One police major was killed and four other officers were injured when the blast from a bomb, hidden under a road in Bannang Sata district of Thailand’s southern province of Yala, impacted the pickup truck in which they were travelling today (Friday).

The five-man team, led by Pol Maj Prasarn Kongprasit, the investigative inspector for Bannang Sata district police, was on their way to investigate the torching of road rollers by suspected insurgents last night.

Six rollers in Banang Sata and Than To districts were damaged.

When the truck arrived near the scene of one of the damaged rollers, insurgents, who may have been hiding nearby, detonated the device.

The powerful explosion tore a large hole in the road and blew the police car onto its roof. The police major died at the scene.