Train derailment likely due to theft not insurgence: district chief
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The train derailment in Songkhla's Chana district last week may not have been the work of insurgents as earlier speculated, Chana's district chief Thaweewut Sangsiri said,
Songkhla authorities have concluded that the removal of the rail anchor spikes, which caused the derailment of a train operating between Nakhon Si Thammarat province and Narathiwat’s Sungai Kolok district was the work of junk dealers.
The dealers took the anchor spikes to sell at junk shops, he said. The derailment injured 11 people. The spikes themselves had earlier been removed but officials identified the theft before anything happened.
Meanwhile Pol Colonel Surachet Hakparn, deputy Songkhla police commander, said police have asked junk shops in the areas to alert them about those who sold the spikes to them.
