Four soldiers were killed and another was injured after a bomb exploded in south Thailand's Narathiwat Province Wednesday night, Thai media reported Thursday.

The four soldiers were killed on the site when a roadside bomb went off and tore their Jeep car into two pieces. Another seriously wounded soldier was sent to a local hospital, the English newspaper Bangkok Post reported on its website.

The soldiers were returning after providing security at a temple in Rueso district where Buddhist followers gathered with candle light in hand to celebrate the Buddhism festival of Visakha Bhucha Day, also a public holiday in Thailand.

Nearly 5,000 people have been killed in Thailand's three southernmost provinces since an Islamist insurgency erupted in 2004. Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani are the only Muslim-dominated provinces in the predominantly Buddhist country.