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Bomb blast shakes Bangkok, 27 dead, several injured

By :  DC Correspondent
Update: 2015-08-18 16:02 GMT
Bomb squad experts Tuesday sifted through the debris of a blast at a Bangkok religious shrine where at least 21 people were killed and scores wounded in an unprecedented attack on the city.
The US government released a statement warning its citizens to avoid the area, while also voicing sympathy for the victims.
"He expresses his condolences to the bereaved families and to the people and government of Thailand," the statement said. "He hopes that those responsible will be brought to justice."
A foot wide crater marked the site of the bomb just inside the gates to the shrine, which is in the central Chidlom district close to the famous Sukhmuvit Road shopping strip. The attack drew quick expressions of grief from around the world, with UN
Devastated scene - The Erawan is an enormously popular shrine to the Hindu god Brahma but is visited by thousands of Buddhist devotees every day. Built in 1956, it is one of the Thai capital's top tourist attractions.
Islamic militants have carried out many attacks in other parts of Southeast Asia, including on Indonesia's holiday island of Bali in 2002 that killed 202 people. But they have not made Thailand a prime target, and Sukhondhapatipak said that the
Junta officials said the attack was aimed at damaging the country's tourist industry, which is a rare bright spot in an otherwise gloomy economy, but it remains unclear who stands to gain from an attack of this scale.
Bangkok has endured years of deadly political violence, with a military junta now ruling the nation, and a decades-long Muslim insurgency in the far south that has claimed thousands of lives. Government spokesman Werachon Sukhondhapatipak told
"I saw bodies lying on the ground and I saw vehicles on fire. I feel very sad and sorry that this has happened to Thai people... I'm scared."
"I heard a very loud bang, it made the whole building shake so I ran outside to see what had happened," Panupan Chansing, 20, a hotel worker at the nearby Grand Hyatt Erawan, told AFP late Monday.
As dawn broke police bomb experts photographed the blast site scouring for clues, an AFP reporter at the scene said. The bomb was detonated at about 6:30 pm (1130 GMT) in the middle of the city's rush hour, sending a fireball into the sky as
Authorities have said the blast targeted foreigners, with Chinese, Hong Kong and Filpino citizens among the dead, while Singapore and Taiwan reported that some of their citizens were injured. The area, which is at a major traffic intersection
"The bomb aimed at killing as many people as possible as the shrine is crowded at around 6 to 7pm," Police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri told AFP early Tuesday. "The death toll is now 21 with 123 wounded... of the dead 14 were killed at blast site,"
The hunt intensified for the bombers as shocked Thais struggled to come to terms with the scale of the carnage, which struck at dusk as worshippers and tourists thronged the streetside Erawan Shrine in the city's commercial heart.
<p>A bomb exploded close to a shrine on Monday in the centre of Thailand's capital, Bangkok, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens more, police and a rescue worker said.&nbsp;A second bomb has been found in the area and made safe, officials say.&nbsp;No one has yet said they carried out the attack, which took place close to the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok's central Chidlom district.&nbsp;</p><p>"All I can say now is there has been an explosion in central Bangkok involving a motorcycle bomb," deputy national police chief Aek Angsananond told Reuters. He said there had been fatalities, but could not confirm details.</p>

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