(9 December) Mysterious explosions and subsequent metals raining down near the village on Thai-Cambodia border are caused by a downed satellite, officials said.
Locals in Bhumisrol village, which sits near the disputed territory around Preah Vihear Temple, were surprised earlier today by abrupt sounds of explosions.
Students, farmers, and other citizens immediately rushed to bomb shelters, many of them thinking another artillery duel between Thai and Cambodian armed forces over the border dispute have erupted once again.
"We heard 7-8 explosions while we were teaching," said Mr. Wutthinan Niyom, a teacher from Baan Bhumisrol school, “We took our students to hide in bomb shelters as we fear the clash between Thai and Cambodian armies have started.”
After the situation returned to normalcy, many villagers ventured out and collected many metal shards near the border, believed to have been caused by the explosions.
“At least 5 metal scraps were collected, and each of them is roughly 50 cm long” said Chief Executive of the Kantralak Subdistrict Administrative Organization (SAO), Mr. Chokchai Saikaew.
However, local security forces said after investigating the matter that the explosions and the metal shards came from a malfunctioned satellite which explodes on its own.
They also claimed that a similar satellite explosion occurred in 2011.
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