A Malaysian was killed and 10 others suffered burns following a car bomb explosion at a hotel in Haadyai, southern Thailand, yesterday, according to Malaysia’s consul-general in Songkhla, Mohd Aini Atan.

He identified the dead Malaysian man as Low Thian Hock, 46, of Kulim, Kedah.

Mohd Aini, when contacted by Bernama , said the 10 injured Malaysians - three men and seven women - had been admitted to three hospitals there.

“Two men and two women are at Songkhla Hospital, three women at Sikarin Hospital and one man and two women at Rajyindee Hospital. They are in stable condition,” he said.

What was originally believed to be an explosion attributed to a gas leak has been confirmed as a car bomb by Thailand’s national police chief Gen Priewpan Damapong in remarks televised today.

southern thailand bomb in yala 2 The Haadyai explosion, at the Lee Garden Plaza Hotel, occurred at about the same time that three car bombs went off in Yala, killing 11 people and injuring 110 ( right ).

300 people injured

Mohd Aini said 10 officers from three agencies - Malaysia-Thailand Border Coordination Office (MTBCO), Malaysian Police Liaison Office (MPLO) and the Malaysian Foreign Ministry - were on call to monitor developments at the operations office near the scene of the incident.

He said the officers would monitor the condition of the injured and report back from time to time to update their family members on the developments.

Seventeen other Malaysians who were also injured received outpatient treatment.

The Malaysians were among more than 300 people who were injured in the incident which happened at a place often congested with tourists due to its location in the middle of the business district.

Video clips uploaded onto the Internet showed much confusion as people tried to rush out of the building, some of them escaping through the windows by scaling down with the aid of bedsheets and pieces of clothing tied together.

Security forces have cordoned off the hotel.

The Malaysian consulate in Songkhla can be reached at +6 681 990 1930 or +6 081 898 3143.

- Bernama