My thoughts are with the family of the victim : Blenkinsop
Yala - "I considered myself to be lucky. We were all lucky," said Award winning Australian photographer Philip Blenkinsop who was among 12 people who were wounded Tuesday when a bomb exploded at a crime scene where police were examining a burnt corps.
Exclusive with Blenkinsop
Blenkinsop, who was on assignment for Time magazine to cover the ongoing insurgency in the Malay-speaking south, suffered a number of minor wounds to his body and torso.
The bomb was buried on the roadside next to the corps of Prathep Srimai, 44, a staff at Yala Municipality's health office who was shot yesterday morning by suspected insurgents.
Police said Prathep's body was placed a trolley and relocated to where the bomb was hidden and then set on fire.
Authorities said the use of second bomb as a trap at crime scene appeared to be a growing tactic directed at reinforcement or officials investigating a crime scene.
Blenkinsop, who was just two metres away form the explosion point, was rushed to the Yala hospital where was treated with shrapnel wounds.
"I wanted to thank the hospital staff, the governor and his deputy. They were wonderful and very professional," Blenkinsop said.
"My thoughts are with the family of the victim. They suffered much more than I did," he added.
Blenkinsop is based in Bangkok since the mid1980s and has covered a number of conflicts, including the guerrilla war in Indonesia's Aceh province, the communist insurgency in Nepal and the plight of the ethnic Hmong in communist Laos.
He began his career with The Australian newspaper in Sydney, but left Australia to work in Southeast Asia.
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