Bangkok Shrine Blast: Several Foreigners Among 27 Killed Outside Erawan Shrine

The death toll in the bomb explosion in the centre of the Thai capital has gone up to 27, said Reuters quoting local media.

Several foreigners were among those killed when a bomb planted on a motorcycle exploded outside a shrine in the Thai capital on Monday.

© Provided by Hindustan Times Officials close off an intersection after an explosion rocked central Bangkok on Monday, killing over two dozens of people and injuring several others. (AP/PTI)

The Nation television said 27 had been killed in the blast at the Erawan Hindu shrine, and other media said at least three foreigners were among them. Most of the injured were tourists from China and Taiwan, media said.

At least two bombs were found at the scene, said Maj. Gen. Weerachon Sukhondhapatipak, a spokesman for Thailand's ruling junta. He said at least one had detonated.

The explosion took place at the Rajprasong intersection, which was the center of many contentious political demonstrations in recent years. It occurred in front of the Erawan Shrine, a tourist landmark also popular with Thais.

The first bomb was found inside the shrine compound, while the second was found opposite the complex, Weerachon said.

A Reuters witness at the scene said she saw pieces of human flesh near the blast site, and a soldier later told onlookers to move back, saying they were checking for a second bomb.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. 

PHOTOS: Bomb blast rocks Bangkok

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condemned the bomb blast that took place outside a Hindu temple in Thai capital.

"I strongly condemn the blast in Bangkok. My thoughts are with the families of the deceased. I pray for a speedy recovery of the injured," he tweeted.

Thai forces are fighting a low-level Muslim insurgency in the predominantly Buddhist country's south, although those rebels have rarely launched attacks outside their ethnic Malay heartland. The country has also been riven for a decade by intense and sometimes violent rivalry between political factions in Bangkok and elsewhere.

The army has ruled Thailand since May 2014, when it ousted an elected government after months of, at times, violent anti-government protests.

The Erawan shrine, on a busy corner near top hotels, shopping centres and offices, is a major tourist attraction, especially for visitors from East Asia. Many ordinary Thais also worship there.

Source: msn.com/en-in/news/world/deadly-blast-in-bangkok-kills-at-least-27/ar-BBlOcIH?ocid=spartanntp

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By Oliver Holmes in Bangkok and Agencies

17 August 2015

Motorcycles lie on the street at the scene of the explosion near the Erawan Shrine in central Bangkok. Photograph: Ritchie B Tongo/EPA

A bomb has exploded outside a Hindu shrine in central Bangkok, killing at least 12 people and wounding many more, according to a police officer and rescue worker at the scene.

Body parts and mangled scooters were scattered across the street after the explosion outside the Erawan shrine in the central Chidlom district of the Thai capital.

Dozens of ambulances are at the scene and a nearby metro station has been closed. There are unconfirmed reports in Thai media that the death toll is at least 27, including four foreigners.

A spokesman for Thailand’s ruling junta said a second bomb at the scene had been found and made safe.

A police chief told Reuters: “All I can say now is there has been an explosion in central Bangkok involving a motorcycle bomb.” He said there had been fatalities, but could not confirm details.

Police and a rescue worker told Reuters 12 people had been killed in the blast, which happened at about 7pm local time (12.00 GMT). Local media put the number of injured at 20.

Thanapon Peng, 25, passed the site on a motorbike taxi moments after the blast.

“I saw glass. I saw some organs of people on the road. I don’t know how many people there were,” he told the Guardian in the lobby of the Grand Hyatt hotel, where tourists and Thais have been waiting until they get the all clear to leave.

“I heard that about 80 people are wounded but we don’t know how many died.”

Police with torches have been looking under bushes and walking the grounds of the nearby Royal Thai police station in an apparent effort to search for other bombs.

A long line of ambulances has formed outside a hospital located close to the blast site, so many of the injured are being taken to medical centres further away.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Thai forces are fighting a low-level Muslim insurgency in the predominantly Buddhist country’s south, although those rebels have rarely launched attacks outside their ethnic Malay heartland.

The country has also been riven for a decade by intense and sometimes violent rivalry between political factions in Bangkok and elsewhere.

The army has ruled Thailand since May 2014, when it ousted an elected government after months of, at times, violent anti-government protests.

The Erawan shrine, on a busy corner near top hotels, shopping centres and offices, is a major tourist attraction, especially for visitors from East Asia. Many Thai people worship there.

The shrine intersection was the site of months of anti-government protests in 2010 by supporters of ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Dozens were killed in a military crackdown and a shopping centre was set ablaze.

Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this report

theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/17/bangkok-rocked-by-explosion-at-busy-road-junction

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Bangkok Bomb Blast: What We Know Till Now

TNN | Aug 17, 2015

Bangkok blast captured on CCTV12 dead, several injured as bomb blast rocks central Bangkok

12 dead, several injured as bomb blast rocks central Bangkok

A huge explosion rocked Bangkok on Monday evening. Here's what we know so far...

* The explosion took place at the Rajprasong intersection, which was the centre of many contentious political demonstrations in recent years.

* Bomb exploded outside Erawan Shrine in the downtown Chidlom district of the Thai capital

* Erawan is an enormously popular shrine to the Hindu god Brahma but is visited by thousands of Buddhist devotees every day.

* It is located on a main road through Bangkok's commercial hub and is surrounded by three major shopping malls.

* Local TV showed burnt motorbikes on the main road

* According to initial reports the bomb was planted on a motorcycle

* While initial reports suggested that the bomb could have been on a motorcycle, Thailand police chief suspects the bomb could have been inside the shrine. Here's what he told Channel 9 television...

"As far as I know there are more than 10 people dead, many injured. Our initial findings are it is a bomb inside the shrine."

* There has been no immediate claim of responsibility

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Bangkok-bomb-blast-What-we-know-till-now/articleshow/48515302.cms

URL: http://newageislam.com/current-affairs/oliver-holmes-in-bangkok-and-agencies/bangkok-shrine-blast--several-foreigners-among-27-killed-outside-erawan-shrine/d/104295