Nine Thais injured at Lao border post

Nine Thais injured at Lao border post

BANGKOK (AP): An explosion rocked a border and immigration
checkpoint in Laos, just across the Mekong river from Thailand,
injuring at least nine Thai tourists, police said.

They said the explosion appears to have been caused by a bomb.

The injured, including two in a serious condition, were
brought by Lao immigration officials to the Thai town of Nong
Khai, police Col. Sakda Wongsiriyanon said in a telephone
interview from the town.

Nong Khai is 510 kilometers northeast of Bangkok and is
connected with Laos by the 1-kilometer-long Friendship Bridge
across the Mekong. The Lao immigration and border checkpoint is
at the foot of the bridge.

Sakda said Lao authorities told their Thai counterparts that
the explosion was caused by a computer blowing up, apparently due
to an electrical short circuit. But Thai authorities were not
convinced.