Bomb destroys part of rail line in Narathiwat
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Local train services had to be suspended in the deep South after a bomb destroyed a section of the track in Narathiwat's Rangae district yesterday morning.
Trains from Bangkok to Hat Yai in Songkhla continued operating yesterday, but could only go as far as Tanyongmas Station.
Workers are expected to start repairing the tracks today so trains can resume plying the route as soon as possible.
After receiving a report of the blast at 6.30am in tambon Tanyonglimo, security officials scouted the area in a helicopter and brought sniffer dogs to check for more explosives. Later, security officials and the bomb squad inspected the site of the bomb, located between Pa Pai and Tanyongmas stations.
The explosion damaged 20 metres of track, shattering three iron-concrete sleepers and creating a crater three metres wide and a metre deep.
Fragments indicated that a home-made bomb was placed inside a 25-kilogram gas cylinder and detonated via a communication radio.
Insurgents hiding in a nearby wooded area detonated the bomb when Sergeant Dusadee Khongpat was leading a six-member patrol team and three civilians along the railway line. Nobody was hurt.
Department of Army Rangers 45 commander, Colonel Rungroj Ananto, said his men were helping Rangae police search suspects’ homes in tambon Tanyonglimo, while another team joined villagers to clear the area and look for suspicious objects to ensure the safety of repairmen.
