42 wounded in lunch attack

Narathiwat - Insurgents detonated a bomb hidden in a car park near a restaurant here, injuring 26 people who were having lunch, police said.

The attack occurred at the crowded Suan Kluay Restaurant on Thammawithi Road in Narathiwat's city centre at 1:30 pm.

Police believed the bomb hidden in a pickup, which was parked outside the restaurant, weighed about 50 kilogrammes.

Witnesses told police that they saw a man drive the truck to the spot. He parked it and fled the scene on a motorcycle waiting nearby. The bomb exploded about about five minutes later.

One of the injured is Narathiwat district chief Surachai Chavalarat and Narathiwat Hospital's eye doctor Wipawan Thongkham.

The explosion also damaged five vehicles parked nearby. Six houses nearby were also damaged by the blast, which also cut power and telephone lines at the spot.

Police said the pickup truck belonged to the Narathiwat Land Survey Office. Two officials of the office were recently shot dead and the insurgents took away the truck.