Bomb blast rips through central Bangkok; at least 18 killed

A bomb exploded at a Hindu shrine in the center of Bangkok on Monday, killing at least 18 people and leaving many more injured.

The blast in the Thai capital — for which no group has claimed responsibility — occurred near the Erawan Shrine, a popular tourist destination with relatively little security near the Grand Hyatt hotel and shopping centers. Many Thais worship there.

"It was a pipe bomb," national police chief Somyot Poompanmuang said. "It was placed inside the Erawan Shrine."

Immediate reports of casualty figures varied. Authorities told the Associated Press that at least 18 people have been confirmed dead and 117 injured. But local news media put the death toll higher, at 27.

There were chaotic scenes at Chulakongkorn Hospital, one of a number of nearby medical facilities that received victims as nurses ferried the injured on gurneys. 

Earlier, authorities ordered onlookers back, saying they were checking for a second bomb, but police later said no other explosive devices were found, according to Reuters. 

CCTV footage showed the scene seconds before and after the explosion, which sent nearby pedestrians scurrying for safety.

“This probably the worst bomb in the history of Bangkok,” Pravit Rojanaphruk, a political analyst and regular columnist for Thailand's Nation newspaper, told Al Jazeera. “Bangkok itself has no history of a major-scale bomb with mass casualties.”

The power of the blast blew the iron gates outside the shrine outward, and Thai officials said that high-grade explosives were used. Shrapnel from the explosion could be seen as far as 100 yards from the scene, which authorities have cordoned off to make way for a several emergency vehicles. 

“The perpetrators intended to destroy the economy and tourism, because the incident occurred in the heart of the tourism district,” Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told Reuters.

While there has been no claim of responsibility, Thai forces have been 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. More than 6,400 people — mostly civilians — have been killed there. 

A spokesman for the government, however, said it was too early to speculate on who was behind the attack. 

Peace talks between the rebel factions and the Thai government are set for later this month. 

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

A military junta seized power in Thailand in May last year to end months of deadly protests against the former civilian government. But the country remains tense and deeply divided after nearly a decade of endless protests punctuated by two coups.

Self-exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra sits at the heart of the political divide. His parties have won every election since 2001, but he is loathed by the Bangkok-based elite.

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/8/17/bangkok-explosion.html