Laos says bridge was bombed

Laos says bridge was bombed

BANGKOK (Agencies): Laos said on Thursday a bomb planted by "bad people" had caused an explosion which injured at least nine people on a bridge linking the country with Thailand.

More than a dozen people were injured when the bomb ripped through a crowded Laos border checkpoint, in the latest of a series of mystery attacks to hit the communist country, officials said on Thursday.

The officials had earlier blamed an electrical fault for Wednesday's blast at the border checkpoint on the Lao side of the Friendship Bridge which links the Thai town of Nong Khai and the Lao capital Vientiane over the Mekong River.

Government-mouthpiece Radio Lao quoted police sources as saying the motive for the bomb attack may have been "business conflicts". It did not elaborate.

The bomb exploded on Wednesday afternoon at one of the immigration booths at the border checkpoint. Thai police said nine Thai citizens were injured, one seriously, by the explosion.

Four Laos have been arrested in connection with the bomb blast.