Bomb blast in Bangkok kills 18

Popular shrine area was filled with tourists at rush hour

Police investigate the scene at the Erawan Shrine after an explosion there Monday in Bangkok. The bombing happened during the evening rush hour, killing 18 and injuring more than 100, police said.
Police investigate the scene at the Erawan Shrine after an explosion there Monday in Bangkok. The bombing happened during the evening rush hour, killing 18 and injuring more than 100, police said.

BANGKOK -- A bomb exploded Monday in a central Bangkok shrine that is among the city's most popular tourist spots, killing at least 18 people and injuring more than 100, officials said.

photo

AP

A soldier patrols at the intersection in front of the Erawan Shrine after an explosion at the tourist spot Monday in Bangkok.

The bomb exploded at Erawan Shrine during evening rush hour, while the area was filled with tourists, office workers and shoppers. Police said the bomb was made with a pipe wrapped in cloth.

Police found at least two additional devices they suspected were bombs inside the shrine and said other bombs may have been placed in the area.

Thai media reported later that the devices did not appear to be bombs.

The Bangkok Post reported on its website that the bomb, apparently placed just inside the fenced Erawan compound, detonated at 6:55 p.m. The scale of the explosion set vehicles in the adjacent intersection ablaze and bowed the iron fence of the shrine outward.

Police and soldiers guarded the site this morning and combed through shattered glass and other debris.

Police tape surrounded the scene, and onlookers stood near it to take pictures. Barricades were set up outside five-star hotels in the neighborhood, and security officials stopped cars to inspect trunks.

Police said it was too soon to determine the motive for Monday's attack. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.

"We still don't know for sure who did this and why," Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said Monday. "We are not sure if it is politically motivated, but they aim to harm our economy and we will hunt them down."

Prawit said this morning that investigators are getting closer to determining who set off the bomb, though he did not give further details.

"It is much clearer who the bombers are, but I can't reveal right now," he said. "We have suspects. There are not many people."

Prawit said Thai authorities had no intelligence on the attack before it happened.

At least 18 people were confirmed dead and 117 injured, according to the Narinthorn emergency medical rescue center. The dead included Chinese and a Filipino, said national Police Chief Somyot Poompummuang.

A notice on the website of the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok said three Chinese tourists were among the dead and that more than 20 others had been injured.

"Those who have planted this bomb are cruel," Somyot said. "They aim to kill because everyone knows that at 7 p.m. the shrine is crowded with Thais and foreigners. Planting a bomb there means they want to see a lot of dead people."

Erawan Shrine is dedicated to the Hindu god Brahma and is extremely popular among Thailand's Buddhists as well as Chinese tourists.

The shrine, adjacent to a five-star hotel, is at the intersection of two major arteries in the city. Throngs of tourists go to the shrine to pray, lighting incense and offering flowers purchased from rows of stalls set up on the sidewalk along the shrine.

Thai officials said it was premature to conclude the attack was politically motivated. But the Bangkok Post reported that all 438 city schools will be closed today for safety reasons.

Bangkok has been relatively peaceful since a military coup ousted a civilian government in May 2014 after months of sometimes violent political protests against the government. Anusit Kunakorn, secretary of the National Security Council, said Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the former army chief who orchestrated the 2014 coup, was closely monitoring the situation after Monday's bombing.

There have been at least four bombings in Thailand since the military seized power, including one outside a shopping mall and another in front of courts. But none came close to the power of the Erawan Shrine bombing.

The U.S. Embassy in Bangkok on Monday issued an emergency message for U.S. citizens, advising them to avoid the shrine's area.

Tourists reacted to the bombing with concern.

"We didn't think anything like this could happen in Bangkok," said Holger Siegle, a German who said he and his new wife were visiting Thailand because it seemed safe. "Our honeymoon and our vacation will go on, but with a very unsafe feeling."

Information for this article was contributed by Jerry Harmer, Anusonadisai Nattasuda, Grant Peck, Charles Dharapak, Jocelyn Gecker, Michael Rubin and Penny Yi Wang of The Associated Press; and by Thomas Fuller and Poypiti Amatatham of The New York Times.

A Section on 08/18/2015

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