4 killed in Thailand's commercial hub blasts

Five bombs were detonated outside two shopping malls, a hotel, a pub and a cinema, all popular tourist spots.

A series of bombs detonated on Saturday night at popular tourist spots in Hat Yai, southern Thailand's main commercial hub, killing at least four people, officials said on Sunday.

Canadian national Jessie Lee Daniel, 25, an English teacher at a Hat Yai primary school, and three Thai nationals were among the dead, said Sahathaya Keowphibul, Hat Yai Hospital's public relations officer.Out of the 70 people injured in the blasts, 37 were in hospital. There were a dozen European and Malaysian tourists among them, Sahathaya said.Five bombs were detonated shortly on Saturday night outside two Hat Yai shopping malls, the Lee Garden Hotel, a pub and a cinema, all popular spots among tourists and Hat Yai residents.Hat Yai, 700 km south of Bangkok, is the largest city in Songkhla province and a major commercial and tourism hub.The last major bombing in Hat Yai occurred on April 3, 2005, when suspected separatists set off bombs at the city's international airport, killing at least one person.