Bomb Rocks Hat Yai Hotel, Over 200 People Trapped

[webfact]

Over 200 trapped in Hat Yai hotel explosion

SONGKHLA, March 31 (Bernama) -- More than 50 people were injured on Saturday following a bomb exploded at the underground of the Lee Garden Plaza Hotel in Hat Yai district, Thai News agency reported.

About 200 guests and hotel staffs were trapped on the fourth floor, state media reported citing officials as saying.

The explosion took place at about 1.00 p.m. (local time), at the underground floor of the 33-storey hotel, which situated in the heart of Hat Yai district, known as shopping paradise for tourists.

Officials added that fire erupted following the explosion and rescue workers were rushing to the scene to rescue the trapped people.

Source: http://www.mysinchew.com/node/71969

-- mysinchew.com 2012-03-31

[webfact]

RT @RichardBarrow: Officials are insisting that cause of fire at Hat Yai hotel was caused by a transformer/gas explosion and not a bomb.

[webfact]

RT @RichardBarrow: URGENT UPDATE: 4:50 p.m. Officials now saying that the Hat Yai hotel fire was caused by a car bomb - TR @Pat_ThaiPBS

[GentlemanJim]

RT @RichardBarrow: Officials are insisting that cause of fire at Hat Yai hotel was caused by a transformer/gas explosion and not a bomb.

RT @RichardBarrow: URGENT UPDATE: 4:50 p.m. Officials now saying that the Hat Yai hotel fire was caused by a car bomb - TR @Pat_ThaiPBS

And who said effective communications wasn't important! I hope the officials get a grip. Thanks for the continued updates Richard.

[elektrified]

A lot of confusing information here. Is it a bomb or a gas explosion from McDonalds??? Earlier on TV.com it was said it was an explosion from cooking gas. Maybe edit the title mods???

I know Lee Gardens Plaza very well. Spent a bit of time there both in the hotel and at the shopping center. Have family in Hat Yai who live about 1 km away from there.

Really bad news!

[ShopBoy]

This is scary. People are roping down !!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2iyK37OU2Q

[george]

RT @RichardBarrow: Car bomb theory at Hat Yai hotel is speculation by rescuers surveying the scene. It could have exploded from the heat.

[FangFerang]

Can people in Bangkok donate blood for this? Im A neg.

Let me know. I'll check back every ten minutes.

[FangFerang]

In the Holy Q'uran, killing women and children is never permitted in any Jihad. Freaky extremists are in every religion--look at the Jewish Defense League (JDL) and Skinheads in the US. Same, same... lunatics waving a flag that does not belong to them. There are over a billion good Muslims. The crazy and vocal minority does not speak for them.

[george]

5:44pm Rescuers say they have found 3 bodies in the underground parking lot at Lee Garden Plaza, Hat Yai - TR @Rawangpai

[DP25]

RT @RichardBarrow: Car bomb theory at Hat Yai hotel is speculation by rescuers surveying the scene. It could have exploded from the heat.

It sounds like it's all speculation so far one way or the other. For it not be a bomb though would be a very big coincidence given the other bombings today

[thebadproducerbkk]

The facts.

An explosion has occured in the building of the LEE GARDENS HOTEL, Hat Yai.

Many injured, some killed, people inside the hotel were/are trapped.

Officials SPECULATE that it could have been:

- A gas explosion related to a restaurant inside the hotel.

- A bomb set by persons unknown.

The timing of the explosion does seem to potentially point to a link to the bombs set off further south.

Without more ACTUAL INFORMATION, this can not be confirmed.

Chinese whispers.

[Thai at Heart]

And If it was a bomb from moslem insurgents the silence of condemnation from their religious comminity will be deafening

[george]

Bomb blasts hit Hatyai hotel, central Yala (Update)

ALOR SETAR: -- At least 50 Malaysians are believed to be in the Lee Gardens Plaza in Hatyai when a bomb rocked the 33-storey building, which houses a hotel and a shopping complex, at 1pm Saturday.

Malaysian Consul General in Songkhla Mohd Aini Atan said his office was working with the local authorities to identify if there were any Malaysian injured or trapped in the blast.

The blast occurred at a fast food restaurant located on the second floor of the building situated in the heart of Hatyai.

It is learnt that about 200 people, mostly hotel guests and staff, who were trapped in the building have been rescued.

Mohd Aini said from early information that he received, more than 50 people were injured in the blast.

He said he has despatched staff to the hotel and hospitals in Hatyai to check on the victims.

Officials said a fire erupted following the explosion and rescue workers were rushing to the scene to rescue the trapped people.

In Yala, three blasts have killed five people and wounded more than 50.

Yala Governor Dethrat Simsiri said the explosions took place at midday Saturday within a 100m radius over a period of 10 minutes in the commercial district of Yala municipality.

He said the first two bombs were hidden in motorcycles, while the third was in a car.

Such bombings are a common tactic of Islamist separatists who have been waging an insurgency in Thailand three southernmost provinces since early 2004. The conflict has taken more than 5,000 lives.

-- The Star, Malaysia 2012-03-31

http://thestar.com.m...2823&sec=nation

[george]

11 Malaysians injured in Hat Yai bomb blast

KUALA LUMPUR - Some 11 Malaysians were among the 50 people who were injured after a bomb exploded at a hotel in Hat Yai, Thailand today.

The bomb was placed in the kitchen of a fast-food outlet in the underground floor of Lee Garden Plaza Hotel which is a popular haunt for Malaysians.

The blast also killed three people, all locals in the 1pm incident.

Malaysia Ambassador to Bangkok Datuk Nazirah Hussin told the New Straits Times that the injured Malaysians were now seeking treatment at two hospitals in Hat Yai.

“We are still trying to get information on their conditions,” she said.

At press time, Thai News agency reported that the authorities and rescue team are still at the scene trying to free about 200 guests and hotel staffs were trapped on the fourth floor.

-- New Straits Times 2012-03-31

http://www.nst.com.m...1#ixzz1qh4Bj0Pe

[terryp]

After staying at the Centara i dont know how they get a fire certificate as the only way up/down to the hotel reception and rooms is via elevator that is behind the small coffee shop at ground level across from Mcdonalds

it looks like the main blast (from whatever) took out the Japanese plate conveyor restaurant on the side (very long glass window)

[Bardeh]

If you can get it to load (I think it's probably getting alot of traffic at the moment) there are a number of photos on the khonthai forums.

There are some from inside the shopping centre itself, and some of the underground parking area. Whatever did cause this, be it deliberate or accidental, it looks like it did alot of damage.

[george]

One dead, dozens injured in Thailand hotel fire

Bangkok, March 31, 2012 (AFP) - One person was killed and dozens injured in a fire Saturday at a hotel in Hat Yai, the largest city in southern Thailand, officials said.

The blaze broke out at the Lee Gardens Hotel in downtown Hat Yai, which is a popular destination with tourists from neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore.

"At least one person is dead now from suffocation but I still have no information on the victim yet," city mayor Prai Pattano told AFP by telephone.

"More than 300 people were injured and of those 60 are staying in hospital. The others are not seriously injured and were discharged."

Most of those injured suffered from smoke inhalation, many in the hotel's large shopping arcade.

Prai said the fire was apparently caused by a gas explosion in the basement of the building.

Police Lieutenant Phuvadol Viriyanarangkul said foreign tourists were among those injured but there were no details on them so far.

Two Russian tourists were killed in a fire at a hotel in Bangkok earlier this month.

Thailand is a tourist magnet but its image as the "Land of Smiles" has been tested in recent years by deadly political unrest, devastating floods and more recently a bungled bomb plot involving Iranian suspects.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2012-03-31

[jerrysteve]

My condolences to all...and their families. None of those places mention have been on my list of places to go in view of the insurgent situations there. It will be interesting to find what set off the

explosion and if someone tampered with the infrastructure of the ho tel. Judging by the pictures I am suprised more are not dead.

[somchaismith]

_{This ain't the first time this has happened in this area. Remeber back in 2006 when the Canadian teacher was killed,}

_{"Several bomb blasts tore through three department stores in Thailand Saturday, killing a Canadian man and at least three other people.}

_{The explosions from six homemeade bombs hit a major commercial area in Songkhla province, called the Hat Yai business district, on Saturday following an earlier peace rally in an area of Muslim insurgency in the south.}

_{Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs identified the Canadian as Jesse Lee Daniel.}

_{Thai police described him as a 29-year-old teacher, but one news report put his age at 35. His hometown has been identified as Trenton, Ont. "}

_{Read more: http://www.ctv.ca/CT.../#ixzz1qhA933cH}

[george]

Burnt remains of man found in stairwell of Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel

Burnt remains of man found in stairwell of Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel, Hat Yai; Experts probing if fire accidental or sabotage.

-- TNA 2012-03-31

[george]

UPDATE:

What we know so far: 10 deaths in car bombing in Yala; 4 deaths in hotel fire in Hat Yai. Officials not sure if car bomb [in Had Yai] RT @RichardBarrow

[george]

7:04pm ThaiPBS now reporting that a 5th body has been found at the scene of the hotel fire in Hat Yai - TR @Pat_ThaiPBS

[HowardH]

Sad, so sad, and it is rarely thai that do things like this i think, always others think their moment of fame is more important than other's lives.

[ShopBoy]

Some dead R.I.P.

[khunming]

It occurs to me that to be a simple gas explosion, there would need to be some considerable time for some gas leak to build up to a concentration that was combustible. I'm not an expert and not sure what type of gas would be used at the Lee Garden Plaza, but I think the concentration would have to get to at least between 2 and 5 % of the atmosphere for the chance of an explosion. It seems likely that someone would notice a gas smell before that amount could have built up. Does anyone have any expertise on this matter? Is it possible that a terrorist could intentionally set an explosive close to a gas pipe in the basement area? Are there immediate signs that would have indicated a gas versus other type of explosion that would have led to an expert guess that this was a gas explosion?

[george]

MCOT: Four persons killed, 350 injured in Hat Yai's Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel fire

http://www.ethailand.com/ri321127/ #thailand

[IAMSOBAD]

The cover up begins by the shameless government.

Odds are a million in one it was caused by gas at McDonalds.

My bet is manmade intentional hatred caused all explosions and fires today.

Posted with Thaivisa App http://apps.thaivisa.com

[JSixpack]

Could well be a gas explosion. I recall a similar explosion at a Jomtien hotel, forgot the name, more than a decade ago. Exit doors were locked of course.

But truth will out soon.

[PoodMaiDai]

It occurs to me that to be a simple gas explosion, there would need to be some considerable time for some gas leak to build up to a concentration that was combustible. I'm not an expert and not sure what type of gas would be used at the Lee Garden Plaza, but I think the concentration would have to get to at least between 2 and 5 % of the atmosphere for the chance of an explosion. It seems likely that someone would notice a gas smell before that amount could have built up. Does anyone have any expertise on this matter? Is it possible that a terrorist could intentionally set an explosive close to a gas pipe in the basement area? Are there immediate signs that would have indicated a gas versus other type of explosion that would have led to an expert guess that this was a gas explosion?

When I lived in the USA a house on our block had a gas explosion. It literally leveled the house to the foundation and threw debris all around the neighborhood, breaking windows and damaging many nearby homes.

A gas explosion is VERY powerful. Would not be surprised if that was the cause here. Usually the Thai terrorists don't make such large bombs.