Erawan Before and After expolison
Thai police have released these CCTV frames of a suspect in the Bangkok bombing
A bomb has exploded at a Hindu shrine in central Bangkok, killing at least 20 people and wounding scores more.
Body parts and mangled scooters were scattered across the street after the explosion at about 7pm local time (12noon GMT) at the Erawan shrine in the central Chidlom district of the Thai capital.
At least 10 Thais, one Chinese and one Filipino citizen are among the 18 dead, according to the national police chief Somyot Poompanmuang, who called the perpetrators of the attack “cruel” for targeting a religious shrine at a busy period.
“Those who have planted this bomb are cruel,” said Poompanmuang. “They aim to kill because everyone knows that at 7pm the shrine is crowded with Thais and foreigners. Planting a bomb there means they want to see a lot of dead people.”
A potential second device that sparked a security alert was found to be harmless, police said.
Dozens of ambulances were at the scene and a nearby metro station was closed. Medics and police formed a line at the large intersection and walked slowly forward, looking for any debris from the blast.
At least 20 people were confirmed dead and 117 injured, according to the Narinthorn emergency medical rescue centre.
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Here is some analysis from Philip Sherwell in Bangkok, asking who was behind the slaughter at Erawan?:
Thailand is no stranger to violence and bombs. It has undergone a decade of domestic political turmoil and coups and has faced a long-running Islamic insurgency in the south of the predominantly Buddhist state.
But Monday’s massacre in Bangkok, with the slaughter of locals and tourists at one of the city’s most revered shrines, is an unprecedented atrocity.
And it bears none of the hallmarks of any of the different political and religious factions that have clashed in recent years in a country that markets itself to foreign visitors as the Land of Smiles.
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Liam McCarthy, an expert on south-east Asia at Nottingham Trent University, said the attack can be seen as an assault on the tourist industry.
Thailand has been under military control since last May, and it is not a surprise that tensions would escalate the way they have in the past few days. The attack can be seen as an assault on the tourist industry in general rather than tourists in particular, and as such it could have a serious impact upon the faltering Thai economy.
“The prime minister has built his legitimacy on the fact that he and his regime offer stability for Thailand, and communications coming from Bangkok are signalling that they are in control, and it is business as usual. Aside from direct messages about the bombing, today the government announced a cabinet reshuffle, this is not a sign of a government that is visibly panicked.
“However, one has to question whether such control is either realistic or appropriate. As secondary incidents, thankfully with no casualties, continue to be reported, one needs to watch how all sides of the Thai political landscape react to the situation, as random acts of terror can escalate into civil war."
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According to Zachary Abuza, an expert on Thailand's southern insurgency, the attack does not fit with the usual actions of the two primary groups being explored: Muslim rebels from the country's insurgency-wracked deep south and hardliners on all sides of the political spectrum.
"What's so strange about this attack is it fits no-one's MO (modus operandi), neither Muslim insurgents nor anti-military groups," Mr Abuza told AFP.
"In reality I don't think you can write anyone off yet," he added.
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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 Thai people have been waiting until they are told it is safe 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 police station in an apparent search for other bombs.
A long line of ambulances has formed outside a hospital located close to the blast site. 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 south of the predominantly Buddhist country, although those rebels have rarely launched attacks outside their ethnic Malay heartland.
The Nation TV channel quoted the Thai prime minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, as saying the government would set up a “war room” to coordinate its response.
The defence minister, Prawit Wongsuwan, told Reuters that “the perpetrators intended to destroy the economy and tourism”.
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 the 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
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