Security tightened in Thailand's Hat Yai on terror report

SONGKHLA, April 29 (TNA) - Security in Hat Yai district of Songkhla province was tightened on Sunday as police forces manned checkpoints across 47 roads and alleys in fear of car bomb attacks. So far, two bomb suspects identified as Seri Waemamu and Ruslan Baima who appeared on surveillance cameras at the Lee Gardens Plaza hotel before the March 31st explosion were still at large. Police said they believe the duo was still in hiding in the country. According to official statistics, three people including a Malaysian tourist were killed and more than 400 others were wounded in the Lee Gardens blast last Saturday; while up to 10 people died and up to 145 others were wounded in a successive car bombing incident in Yala province. In other reports, eight days after the Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel in Hat Yai district of Songkhla province suffered damage from car bomb attacks, repair work was now underway Officials said on Sunday officials manning the hotel which was located in the main commercial area of Hat Yai, known as a shopping paradise among tourists, cleared the hotel as well as shopping malls underground following an entry ban earlier. Officials said hotel workers began to clean the charred debris on Sunday while repairers would be called soon to start repair work so that services could start soonest. A service desk would also be set up in front of the hotel to receive complaints from victims of the deadly explosion, before forwarding it to Hat Yai district office. (TNA)