Mass Casualties Reported After Car Bomb Goes off in Popular Resort Area
A car bomb blast ripped through a hotel in Thailand on Tuesday, killing one person and injuring 29.
“The explosion happened near a hotel in the province of Pattani, an area popular with Western tourists in the country’s south,” the Daily Mail reported.
“Pictures have emerged showing the remains of a building and a fire raging inside. The nationality of those caught up in the blast is not yet known,” the outlet added.
According to RT.com, the Thai government is reporting the attacks were carried out by a group of at least 20, though denying the perpetrators are Malay-Muslim insurgents.
BREAKING: 1 dead, 29 injured after blast rocks Western tourist hotspot in Thailand https://t.co/NVBEoWQ3u9 pic.twitter.com/5WcWdQHDWe
— Voice of Europe (@V_of_Europe) August 23, 2016
The attack comes days after eight simultaneous explosions rocked the seaside resort of Hua Hin last month, killing two and wounding 21.
The State Department has listed no recent travel warnings regarding Thailand.
The West Bank and Gaza Strip of Israel, Iran, North Korea, Congo, Turkey and Honduras are among locations the State Department has issued recent warnings.
my room after bomb went off moments ago in #pattani hotel in #Thailand its terrible @MarkCollyerReal pray for me pic.twitter.com/NNIfUbYS00
— MikeC (@mikethecraigy) August 23, 2016
The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office has said there is a “high threat from terrorism” in Thailand.
It has also advised against “all but essential travel to the provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and Songkhla on the Thai-Malaysia border.”
The Bangkok Post offered a list of recent bombings. In February of this year, a car bomb detonated outside a police station in the southern Thailand, injuring seven.
The deadliest attack in recent years happened in October 2010, when a blast at a Bangkok apartment complex killed four people. The government blamed the incident on the anti-government Red Shirt movement, which denied any involvement, according to the Post. (For more from the author of “Mass Casualties Reported After Car Bomb Goes off in Popular Resort Area” please click HERE)
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