Series of bomb blasts in Thailand wounds 73

A CAR bomb blast at a fruit market and another explosion minutes later at a nearby teashop wounded 73 people in Muslim southern Thailand yesterday, where in a five-year rebellion 3,200 people have died, police said.

The first explosion appeared to target an outdoor meeting of village chiefs at a district office in Narathiwat, one of the three southernmost provinces roiled by the violence, police said.

A second device hidden in a motorcycle exploded two minutes later at a teashop 100 metres away, police said.