Grenade bounces back at bomber

15 February,2012 08:55 AM IST |   |  Agencies

Iranian has both legs blown off after throwing a bomb at Bangkok police


Iranian has both legs blown off after throwing a bomb at Bangkok police


A bungling Iranian bomber blew off his own legs when he hurled a grenade at Thai police outside a Bangkok schoolu00a0-- which bounced off a tree and then exploded at his feet.

It came after he had blown up his own home and then hurled a grenade at a taxi driver who would not accept him as a passenger.


Carnage: Thai bomb squad officials inspect the site of an explosion in
Bangkok that injured 4 people. Pic/AFP


Three blasts
Police said the first explosion happened at a house in the Ekamai area in central Bangkok, which the three Iranians were believed to have rented for a month.

Two men managed to escape the explosion that severely damaged the house, according to police, but a third man who suffered minor injuries tried to hail a taxi. When the taxi refused to stop for him, he threw at least one bomb at it.

There was a third explosion when the same man then attempted to throw another bomb at police, but missed.
He is said to be receiving emergency treatment in hospital. Thai media said that an identity card found nearby indicated the man could be of Iranian origin.

A police forensics team was examining the house and reports said that police used a high pressure water cannon to defuse another explosive found there.

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra urged the public to remain calm.

Four people, three men and one woman, were injured in the explosions which come the day after Israeli diplomats were targeted in simultaneous car bombings, also believed to have been carried out by Iran.

Thailand has rarely been a target for foreign terrorists, although a domestic Muslim insurgency in the country's south has involved bombings of civilian targets.

Israel and the US warned their citizens to be alert in the capital, but Thai authorities said the country appeared to have been a staging ground but not the target of any attack.

It comes a day after Israeli diplomats were targeted in simultaneous bomb plots in India and Georgia, which were also blamed on Iran.

A bomb attached magnetically to a car in New Delhi exploded and injured the wife of an Israeli official and two bystanders.

Officials in Georgia said an explosive device was attached to the bottom of a diplomat's car in the capital Tbilisi, but was found and defused before it detonated.
ufffd
"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
Related Stories