Two Bombs Rock Pattani

By Jamaluddin Muhammad

BANGKOK, July 31 (Bernama) -- Two bombs rocked Pattani Tuesday night including a hotel which was bombed for the second time within four years.

A Pattani police spokesman said a car bomb exploded behind the CS Hotel at 7.15pm (Malaysian time: 8.15pm) causing the hotel to catch fire right up to the seventh floor.

All guests were immediately evacuated from the hotel and only one person sustained minor injury. Initial police investigations showed that a 10-kg homemade bomb was hidden in the car which was parked near the hotel's kitchen.

"I could feel the impact of the bomb as my house is situated just about 100 metres from the hotel," said a local journalist who declined to be identified. The second bomb exploded at the Paknam area, a few minutes after the first bomb was detonated.

The eight-storey CS Hotel was first bombed in 2008 which resulted in three deaths and 10 injuries.