Thais spot bomb suspect on video

Police look for man who left backpack before 20-death blast

This image released by the Royal Thai Police shows a man wearing wearing a backpack, which is left behind near the Erawan Shrine before an explosion Monday night in Bangkok. Police label the man a suspect in the blast, which killed a number of people at the downtown shrine.
This image released by the Royal Thai Police shows a man wearing wearing a backpack, which is left behind near the Erawan Shrine before an explosion Monday night in Bangkok. Police label the man a suspect in the blast, which killed a number of people at the downtown shrine.

BANGKOK -- Thai authorities are hunting for a suspect captured on security camera footage in connection with a powerful blast that killed at least 20 people Monday in Bangkok's central shopping district, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said.

In the grainy security video, a man in a yellow shirt sits on a bench at the crowded Erawan Shrine, removes a backpack he is wearing, and leaves it behind when he walks away.

For police hunting who was responsible for the bombing, there was no doubt about the man with shaggy dark hair and glasses.

"The yellow shirt guy is not just the suspect. He is the bomber," police spokesman Lt. Gen. Prawut Thavornsiri said Tuesday.

Prayuth called the shrine bombing, which besides killing 20 wounded more than 120, "the worst incident that has ever happened in Thailand," and he promised to track down those responsible.

"There have been minor bombs or just noise, but this time they aimed for innocent lives," Prayuth said. "They want to destroy our economy, our tourism."

Bangkok was rattled again Tuesday when a pipe bomb blew up at the Sathorn Pier, which is used by tourists, although no one was hurt.

Early today, the shrine reopened to the public as people knelt in prayer, lit incense and laid flowers.

Prawut released several photos of the man in the T-shirt, with and without the backpack, on social media. The images were taken from closed-circuit video at the shrine before the bomb exploded.

Video posted separately on Thai media appeared to show the same man sitting on a bench at the shrine, taking off the backpack and leaving it behind as he walked away.

Without elaborating, the prime minister said, "Today we have seen the closed-circuit footage, we saw some suspects, but it wasn't clear. We have to find them first."

Prayuth said the government will expedite "all investigative efforts to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice."

The bomb, which police say was made from a pipe and weighed more than 6 pounds, went off about 7 p.m. in an upscale area filled with tourists, office workers and shoppers. No one has claimed responsibility.

Prawut said Tuesday's blast at the Sathorn Pier, frequented by tourist boats, also was caused by a pipe bomb and could be related to the shrine attack.

Police said the bomb was thrown from the Taksin Bridge and fell into the Chao Phraya River, where it exploded. Security video showed a sudden blast of water over a walkway at the pier as bystanders ran for safety.

The Erawan Shrine is dedicated to the Hindu god Brahma but is extremely popular among Thailand's Buddhists, as well as Chinese tourists. Although Thailand is predominantly Buddhist, there is an enormous Hindu influence on its religious practices and language.

Thai authorities identified five victims as Thai and four as Chinese -- two of them from Hong Kong -- along with two Malaysians and one Singaporean; the nationalities of the other eight victims are unknown.

The British Foreign Office said one victim was a British citizen named Vivian Chan who lived in Hong Kong. It was not immediately clear whether she was one of the two Hong Kong victims identified by Thai officials. Officials at London's BPP University said she had studied there.

Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said authorities had no idea an attack had been planned.

"We didn't know about this ahead of time. We had no intelligence on this attack," he said.

Prayuth vowed to "hurry and find the bombers," although he noted there may be just one perpetrator. Speaking to reporters, he continued what has been a notoriously prickly relationship with the media since the former general took control in a May 2014 coup that ousted a civilian government.

Asked if there were leads on the bomber, Prayuth said: "We are still investigating. The bomb has just exploded -- why are you asking now? Do you understand the word 'investigation'? It's not like they claim responsibility."

In Washington, State Department spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. is offering to support Thailand in its investigation but has not received a request. He said there was no indication any Americans were among the casualties.

Office buildings close to the U.S. and Japanese embassies in Bangkok erected security barriers and began checking cars for explosives Tuesday. Some companies sent employees home early. Hundreds of schools that were ordered to close the day after the blast will reopen today.

"The safety of our staff is paramount, and without clear information we have to take a safety-first approach," said Richard Jackson, general manager of RLC Recruitment, which employs 18 people in the capital.

Information for this article was contributed by Nattasuda Anusonadisai, Papitchaya Boonngok, Jocelyn Gecker, Grant Peck, Jerry Harmer, Michael Rubin, Penny Yi Wang, Matthew Pennington and Danica Kirka of The Associated Press and by Chris Blake and Suttinee Yuvejwattana of Bloomberg News.

A Section on 08/19/2015

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