Train derails in restive southern Thailand after track sabotaged, 9 injured

BANGKOK (AP) - A passenger train derailed Monday after saboteurs loosened a section of track in insurgency-plagued southern Thailand, injuring nine people, an official said.

A 3-meter (10-foot) section of rails was unscrewed, sending the northbound train off the tracks, said Montakan Srivilas, a spokesman for the State Railways of Thailand. He said Muslim rebels were believed responsible.

The train, carrying about 200 passengers, derailed about 750 kilometers (470 miles) south of Bangkok in Pattani province's Kok Pho district, Montakan said.

Pattani is one of three provinces in southern Thailand in which a Muslim separatist insurgency has raged since early 2004. More than 2,200 people have perished since then in almost daily shootings and bombings.