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Two bomb blasts rock Thailand
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TWO bomb blasts rocked southern Thailand on Saturday, leaving one dead and dozens injured in attacks police believe were carried out by a Muslim separatist group.
The first bomb exploded at 2.25pm (0725 GMT) on a crowded railway station platform in the southern Thai city of Hat Yai, killing a five-year-old boy and injuring nearly 40 people, officials said.
The second bomb was detonated at 7.15pm (1215 GMT) in a hotel car park in the town of Betong near the Malaysian border. Five people were injured, although none seriously.
Police said they suspected both blasts were the work of the Pattani United Liberation Organization (PULO), a Muslim separatist group which killed 10 people in a 1993 bombing at the Hat Yai station.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra lashed out at Thai intelligence organizations for failing to prevent the Hat Yai bombing, despite an apparent warning blast late last week that had put them on high alert.
"I don't understand why, after there were reports that a sabotage attack was likely, that authorities can fail to prevent such an extremely serious incident," he said in comments made before the second blast.
"I don't know yet which group is responsible for this incident, but it is a serious challenge to the power of the government."
The Hat Yai bomb exploded next to a public information kiosk which was packed with dozens of people who were inquiring about the delayed departure of an afternoon train to Bangkok over the holiday weekend.(SD-Agencies)
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