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At least 18 people were killed and many injured when a bomb exploded yesterday outside a popular religious shrine in Bangkok, scattering body parts and debris across the city's commercial core.
The blast hit at around 6.30pm when the streetside shrine was packed with worshippers and tourists.
Thai media reported four foreigners among the dead, including at least two from China and one from the Philippines. Most of those injured were tourists from China and Taiwan, other reports said.
Another 15 mainland tourists were injured during the blast, state-run Xinhua reported late Monday, citing the Chinese embassy.
An emergency response mechanism had been activated, and embassy officials had visited the injured in hospital, the report said.
At least one Hong Kong tourist was injured, suffering wounds to his leg from flying debris. The man's wife said the family was waiting to cross the street near the Erawan Shrine in Chidlom, when they heard the blast ring out from across the street. Their daughter's arm was also slightly injured.
"A lot of people were in the middle of the road, waiting to cross the street … and then the explosion came. It exploded once and we were very frightened and started moving back," she told RTHK. "It was only then we realised [we were] hurt."
She saw bodies and injured people from across the street and described the scene as "chaos".
"When the explosion happened I had no idea what it was and when it went 'boom', we immediately started stepping back," she said.
"My husband was hurt. A piece of lead or something was stuck in [his leg]. All I know was there was a lot of blood spilling out."
Burned out motorbikes lay on the road at the scene of the blast. Photo: AFP
Charred and shattered motorcycles littered the scene, along with hunks of concrete from the shrine, with pools of blood on the pavement and bodies covered by white sheets.
"It was a bomb, I think it was inside a motorcycle ... it was very big, look at the bodies," said one rescue volunteer, who did not want to be named.
While there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, suspicion was likely to fall on the kingdom's rival political factions. Thailand has been seared by a near-decade of political violence that has left the country deeply divided and seen repeated rounds of deadly street protests and bombings.
Many observers had predicted a fresh round of violence after the military seized power in a coup in May last year, toppling a civilian government led by Yingluck Shinawatra.
A policeman photographs debris from the explosion in central Bangkok. Photo: AP
Thailand's defence minister said the bombers had targeted "foreigners" to try to damage the tourist industry, which is a rare bright spot in an otherwise gloomy economy.
"It was a TNT bomb ... the people who did it targeted foreigners and to damage tourism and the economy," said Prawit Wongsuwong, a former general who is believed to have been one of the key coup-makers.
Thailand is also fighting a festering insurgency in its Muslim-majority southernmost provinces bordering Malaysia. More than 6,400 people - mostly civilians - have been killed there.
In the so-called "Deep South", bombs are a near-daily reality alongside shootings and ambushes of security forces.
Civilians are overwhelmingly the target, but the conflict which sees local rebels calling for greater autonomy from the Thai state has stayed highly localised.
The Erawan is an enormously popular shrine to the Hindu god Brahma but is visited by thousands of Buddhist devotees every day. It is located on a traffic-choked intersection in Bangkok's busy commercial hub and surrounded by three major shopping malls.
At least 16 killed, up to 100 injured by biggest attack
THE NATION August 18, 2015 1:00 am
A LARGE bomb rocked central Bangkok's Ratchaprasong area last night, killing at least 16 people and injuring dozens more last night.
The blast - perhaps the biggest attack in the country - was the first major violence following the May 2014 coup. It appeared to target the city's Erawan Shrine, which is popular with Chinese tourists.
National police chief Pol General Somyot Poompanmuang condemned the fatal attack, saying the suspects were very cruel and had every intention to kill innocent people.
"I want to condemn the attack and the attackers who were brutal as they attacked the Erawan Shrine at about 7pm, when it is usually packed with foreign tourists and worshippers," Somyot said.
Roads leading to Ratchaprasong Intersection would be closed until noon August 18 so police can collect evidence from the scene, he said.
At the time of the blast, Ratchaprasong and the Erawan Shrine were packed with motorists, tourists and worshippers.
The National Council for Peace and Order, which is led by Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, called an urgent meeting following the blast.
Somyot said a Chinese and a Filipino national were among those killed. Earlier, unconfirmed reports claimed four foreigners were among the casualties.
Somyot said initial inquiries showed the suspects had planted an improvised explosive device under a chair close to the fence of the Erawan Shrine. It was a 3kg TNT explosive with a capacity to damage a 100-metre area.
Somyot said he had informed Prayut as well as Deputy Premier and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan of the incident, adding he was not ruling out any possible cause for the attack. The authorities have ordered police to ensure public security.
Initial reports said at least 15 were killed and 100 injured in the explosion that occurred just before 7pm. Somyot said another suspected bomb was found by a bomb squad in the same area.
The Police Hospital asked for the public to donate blood for dozens of injured victims. Most of the injured were Chinese tourists who were believed to be paying respect to the shrine when the blasts took place.
"It was a TNT bomb... the people who did it targeted foreigners and to damage tourism and the economy," Prawit said.
Witnesses believed there were two blasts, with the first bomb detonated on a motorcycle parked on the street, while a second was near the Erawan Shrine. The usually busy Ratchaprasong area was immediately sealed off.
Former deputy government spokesman MajGeneral Sansern Kaewkamnerd said Prawit was assigned by the PM to take charge of the situation. He said it was too early to pinpoint the cause.
Security sources said the incident was believed to be politically motivated, and may involve the move to strip former PM Thaksin Shinawatra of his police rank, the draft charter, the looming military reshuffle, and the spillover from unrest in the deep South.
"I was having dinner at the Hyatt Erawan when a large explosion shook the building," said Eric Seldin, an office worker told DPA. "When we were allowed outside 15 minutes later we saw several bodies covered under white sheets and damage to a nearby shrine."
TV footage showed emergency workers assisting survivors and body parts scattered on the road. A bomb crater was visible in the courtyard of the Hindu shrine.
Thai emergency staff help the injured after the scene of an explosion near Erawan Shrine, central Bangkok. Photo: EPA
The sounds of ambulance and police sirens reverberated through the streets of Bangkok on Monday evening.
I walked out of a shop in Siam Square – about 10 minutes by foot from the blast scene – and was surprised and puzzled to see lines of emergency vehicles making their way through the crowded city.
“Looks like something big has happened,” I told my girlfriend, with whom I am on holiday in the Thai capital.
We had no idea that just a few blocks away a terrorist’s bomb, planted at one of the capital’s most renowned shrines, had just ripped through a crowd. It killed as many as 27 people, of whom media have reported four were foreigners, including at least one from China and one from the Philippines.
Scores more were injured, including one man from Hong Kong, whose leg was hit with flying debris.
But as I stood in Siam Square I wasn’t exactly sure about the severity of the incident yet. In fact, I did not even know it was an explosion.
So I continued my tour of the nearby shopping malls. But as we stood in a boutique, I saw several customers glued to the television and that caught my attention.
A body lies covered on the ground between damaged motorcycles at the scene of a bomb explosion near Erawan Shrine, central Bangkok. Photo: EPA
I don’t understand Thai, but the images of the explosion’s aftermath were all too real. At that point I still did not know where the explosion took place until my mother called me and asked if I was safe.
I was shocked to learn it had happened at the Erawan shrine, where I had visited the day before.
The shrine, on a busy corner near top hotels, shopping centres, offices and a hospital, is a major attraction, especially for visitors from East Asia, including China. Many ordinary Thais also worship there.
About 500,000 Hong Kong tourists visited Thailand last year and about 600,000 the year before, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
When we finally realised the severity of the incident, we knew we had to return to the safety of the hotel. But the taxi stations had sprouted long lines as tourists scrambled to go back to their hotel and residents to their homes.
We would have to walk.
Security was tight as police officers patrolled the streets. Some of the roads leading to the explosion scene were cordoned off.
Shopping malls closed early and the streets, usually packed with hawkers and tourists, were almost empty. It looked surreal for a city well-known for its night life.
“Excuse me, what is happening,” a foreign tourist asked me, appearing worried and surprised that the road that she had been taking to her hotel the last few days was cordoned off.
I told her about the explosion and she was even more shocked, saying her hotel was near the explosion site.
The walk back to our own hotel was to take just 15 minutes but it felt like hours. On the way, I could hear tourists discussing whether they should return to their home countries early.
As we finally made it to the hotel, we found tourists gathered in the lobby to see the terrifying images on television.
The refrain continued through the night: “Oh my God, what happened?”
A small explosive was thrown from a bridge over a river in Bangkok on Tuesday. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Thailand's police announced that the man in a yellow T-shirt and backpack pictured in security footage "is the bomber", a report said.
Thai authorities have been looking for a suspect seen on closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage near a popular shrine where a bomb blast killed 22 people, including nine foreigners from several Asian countries.
National police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang said the suspect, seen in a first CCTV image with a backpack and then in a later one without the bag, could be Thai or a foreigner.
“That man was carrying a backpack and walked past the scene at the time of the incident. But we need to look at the before and after CCTV footage to see if there is a link,” Somyot told a news conference.
The government said the attack during the Monday evening rush hour, in the capital’s bustling commercial hub, was aimed at destroying the economy. No one has claimed responsibility.
Raising tension in the city on Tuesday, a small explosive was thrown from a bridge over a river but no one was injured, a police officer at the scene said.
Police earlier said they had not ruled out any group, including elements opposed to the military government, for the bombing at the Erawan Shrine on Monday evening, although officials said the attack did not match the tactics of Muslim insurgents in the south.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha also referred to the man as a suspect without giving details. He said there were “still anti-government groups out there”, although he did not elaborate.
Police were deployed to the blood-splattered site on Tuesday, some wearing white gloves and carrying plastic bags, searching for clues to an attack that could dent tourism and investor confidence.
Thai authorities are looking for a suspect seen on closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage. Photo: SCMP Pictures
The Thai baht fell 0.57 per cent to 35.57 baht, its weakest in more than six years, on concern the bombing may scare off visitors. Thai stocks fell as much as 3 per cent.
Police said the death toll was 22, with 123 people wounded. They said the blast was caused by a pipe bomb.
“Police are not ruling out anything including [Thai] politics and the conflict of ethnic Uygurs who, before this, Thailand sent back to China,” Somyot said.
Thailand forcibly returned 109 Uygurs to China last month.
Hundreds, possibly thousands, of the Turkic-speaking and largely Muslim minority have fled unrest in China’s western Xinjiang region, where hundreds of people have been killed, prompting a crackdown by Chinese authorities. Many Uygurs have travelled through Southeast Asia to Turkey.
The blast comes at a sensitive time for Thailand, which has been riven for a decade by a sometimes violent struggle for power between political factions in Bangkok.
An interim parliament hand-picked by a junta that seized power in a last year coup is due to vote on a draft constitution next month.
Critics have criticised the draft as undemocratic and say it is intended to help secure the military’s grip on power and limit the influence of elected politicians.
The attack also comes as Prayuth, under pressure to get the economy in shape, prepares to reshuffle his cabinet. Senior ministers have dismissed the possibility of the bomb attack being related to the cabinet reshuffle.
The Erawan Shrine, on a busy corner near top hotels, shopping centres, offices and a hospital, is a major attraction, especially for visitors from East Asia, including China. Many Thais also worship there.
Four Chinese, including two people from Hong Kong, were among the dead, China’s official Xinhua news agency said. Two Malaysians, a Singaporean, an Indonesian and a Filipino were also killed, officials said. Scores of people were wounded, including many from China and Taiwan.
Occasional small blasts over recent years have been blamed on one side of the domestic political divide or the other. In February, two pipe bombs exploded outside a shopping mall in the same area as the Monday blast but caused little damage.
Thai forces are also fighting a low-level Muslim insurgency in the predominantly Buddhist country’s south, but those rebels have rarely launched attacks outside their heartland.
“This does not match with incidents in southern Thailand. The type of bomb used is also not in keeping with the south,” army chief and deputy defence minister General Udomdej Sitabutr said in a televised interview.
Tourism is one of the few bright spots in an economy that is still struggling, more than a year after the military seized power in May last year.
It accounts for about 10 per cent of the economy and the government had been banking on a record number of visitors this year following a sharp fall last year because of protests and the coup.
In Washington, the US State Department said it was too soon to tell if the blast was a terrorist attack. Spokesman John Kirby said authorities in Thailand had not requested US help.
Thailand's PM says police hunting male Bangkok bomb suspect in 'country's worst attack' that left 21 dead
Authorities blame explosion at famous Erawan Shrine on forces who 'want to destroy Thailand's economy'
Thai rescue workers carry an injured person after a bomb exploded outside a religious shrine in central Bangkok. Photo: AFP
Thailand’s junta chief said authorities are hunting a male “suspect” seen on CCTV footage near the scene of a bombing that claimed at least 21 lives in Bangkok and wounded scores more.
“Today there is a suspect who appeared on CCTV but it’s not clear,” Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha said, adding he was believed to be from an “anti-government group based in Thailand’s northeast”, the heartland of the anti-coup "red shirt" movement. "We are looking for this guy."
At least four Chinese, two Malaysians, two Hongkongers, one Singaporean, an Indonesian and one Filipino were among the 21 killed in a devastating blast in central Bangkok last night, authorities said, in what Prayuth Chan-ocha, described as the "worst ever attack" in the country.
Many more were injured when the bomb exploded outside a popular religious shrine in Bangkok, scattering body parts and debris across the city's commercial core.
Of the wounded, Thais made up the largest number with 42 being treated, followed by 28 Chinese. Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Oman, the Philippines and Singapore all had one or more nationals wounded, according to a list released by the police.
Thailand is fighting a decade-long insurgency in its southernmost Muslim-majority provinces that border Malaysia, which has seen more than 6,400 people killed, mostly civilians. Prayuth’s comments suggest the investigation is shifting towards anti-government groups loyal to the ousted Shinawatra family, rather than the southern Muslim militants.
The "red shirts" are a grassroots network of the rural and urban poor, particularly from the country’s northeast, that support Yingluck and her ousted prime minister brother Thaksin Shinawatra.
Policemen inspect the cordoned-off site of a bomb blast at the popular Erawan shrine. Photo: AFP
Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said the attack, which no one immediately claimed responsibility for, was aimed at undermining the economy.
“It is much clearer who the bombers are, but I can’t reveal more right now,” Prawit said, as he headed into a cabinet meeting this morning. “We haven’t ruled out terrorism. ... We had no intelligence on this attack."
Earlier, Prawit, a former general who is believed to have been one of the key coup-makers, said: "It was a TNT bomb ... the people who did it targeted foreigners and to damage tourism and the economy."
A South China Morning Post reporter at the scene confirmed the names of two Hongkongers killed as Vivian Chan Wing-yan, 19, and Pang Wan-chee, 24. Three Hong Kong immigration officers were scheduled to fly to Bangkok to provide help to the victims and their family members.
Public Health Permanent Secretary Narong Sahametapat said the youngest patient injured in the blast is "a five-year-old Chinese national who suffered head injuries. Some patients have been discharged but those suffering from trauma or burns remain in hospital”. Narong appealed for more blood donors, saying supplies were low.
Video shortly after the blast showed a scene of shock and desperation: people running for their lives and crying amid the debris. An emergency worker in an ambulance, frantically pounding the chest of a victim.
National police chief Somyot Poompanmoung said the bomb was made with a pipe wrapped in cloth and weighed 3kg.
The hunt intensified for the bombers as police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri said the bomb "aimed at killing as many people as possible as the shrine is crowded”.
The blast hit at around 6.30pm when the streetside shrine was packed with worshippers and tourists.
Thai media reported four foreigners among the dead, including at least two from China and one from the Philippines. Most of those injured were tourists from China and Taiwan, other reports said.
Another 15 mainland tourists were injured during the blast, state-run Xinhua reported late Monday, citing the Chinese embassy.
"The death toll is now 21 with 123 wounded... of the dead 14 were killed at blast site,” police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri said, adding the bomb probably contained three kilogrammes of explosives.
An emergency response mechanism had been activated, and embassy officials had visited the injured in hospital, the report said.
At least one Hong Kong tourist was injured, suffering wounds to his leg from flying debris. The man's wife said the family was waiting to cross the street near the Erawan Shrine in Chidlom, when they heard the blast ring out from across the street. Their daughter's arm was also slightly injured.
"A lot of people were in the middle of the road, waiting to cross the street … and then the explosion came. It exploded once and we were very frightened and started moving back," she told RTHK. "It was only then we realised [we were] hurt."
She saw bodies and injured people from across the street and described the scene as "chaos".
"When the explosion happened I had no idea what it was and when it went 'boom', we immediately started stepping back," she said.
"My husband was hurt. A piece of lead or something was stuck in [his leg]. All I know was there was a lot of blood spilling out."
Among the injured was a Japanese national, 31-year-old Kota Ando, who is being treated at an intensive care unit with wounds to his internal organs, an official of a police hospital in Bangkok said.
Burned out motorbikes lay on the road at the scene of the blast. Photo: AFP
Charred and shattered motorcycles littered the scene, along with hunks of concrete from the shrine, with pools of blood on the pavement and bodies covered by white sheets.
"It was a bomb, I think it was inside a motorcycle ... it was very big, look at the bodies," said one rescue volunteer, who did not want to be named.
While there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, suspicion was likely to fall on the kingdom's rival political factions. Thailand has been seared by a near-decade of political violence that has left the country deeply divided and seen repeated rounds of deadly street protests and bombings.
Many observers had predicted a fresh round of violence after the military seized power in a coup in May last year, toppling a civilian government led by Yingluck.
Although bombings are not uncommon in the country’s south where a Muslim insurgency has been raging for many years, they are a rare occurrence in the capital.
A policeman photographs debris from the explosion in central Bangkok. Photo: AP
In the so-called "Deep South", bombs are a near-daily reality alongside shootings and ambushes of security forces.
Civilians are overwhelmingly the target, but the conflict which sees local rebels calling for greater autonomy from the Thai state has stayed highly localised.
The Erawan is an enormously popular shrine to the Hindu god Brahma but is visited by thousands of Buddhist devotees every day. It is located on a traffic-choked intersection in Bangkok's busy commercial hub and surrounded by three major shopping malls.
Authorities have blamed the "red shirts" for a string of small explosions in Bangkok earlier this year, a charge their leadership has strongly denied. They were also initially blamed by authorities for a car bomb on the resort island of Koh Samui earlier this year, but police were later forced to backtrack and subsequently blamed insurgents for that attack.
While hardcore "red shirts" have been known to launch attacks on security forces or government buildings, they have never before carried out a mass casualty bombing.
Thailand’s Islamist insurgents are also not know to target foreigners and have also largely kept their violent attacks to the three Muslim-majority provinces in the country’s south.
Additional reporting by Ernest Kao and Tribune News Service
Hongkonger Jaral Jintana speaks from her hospital bed in Bangkok
For a fleeting moment, Jaral Jintana thought she would bleed to death.
"I saw so many dead bodies. I was also bleeding so badly and so I thought I was not going to make it," the 60-year-old Hong Kong woman said as she recalled her harrowing ordeal after the explosion ripped through the Erawan Shrine in the heart of Bangkok on Monday night.
The bomb that went off in Ratchaprasong district shortly after 7pm killed at least 20 people, including four mainlanders and two Hongkongers. And at least 20 Chinese nationals were injured.
Jaral had visited the religious shrine with her 62-year-old husband, Chu Yat-on, and they were waiting at traffic lights to cross a road to a shopping mall. As the lights changed, pedestrians started walking across the road.
"While all of the vehicles were waiting to cross the road, a motorcycle ran across right in front of me and went all the way to [the shrine]," she said from her bed at Police General Hospital, the shock visible on her face. "Then there was an explosion. I felt the ground shaking. The blaze was huge and so was the smoke."
She thought she would not make it, but her husband's words kept her going.
"I then told myself to stay tough because my husband said to me 'what am I going to do without you by my side', and that kept me fighting," she said.
Jaral, who was born and raised in Thailand, moved to Hong Kong about 40 years ago after marrying Chu.
She received stitches to her head and legs, and doctors said she would need another week in hospital. Her husband was being treated at nearby Chulalongkorn Hospital. But the distance was too much for the devoted couple.
"Can you please go visit him for me?" she asked. "Tell him to rest more and don't show that much temper. He has been saying the doctors do not care about him because he doesn't speak [Thai]. He said his wounds hurt."
She wanted her husband to stay with her in the same hospital so they could look after each other. Chu suffered back injuries but is slowly recovering.
Jaral received a tonic yesterday when Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha visited her and other patients. "He told me to rest well and don't think too much," said Jaral, describing the visit as "reassuring".
Thai office workers light candles for victims killed in a bomb blast outside a religious shrine in Bangkok. Photo: AFP
Hongkongers Vivian Chan Wing-yan and Arcadia Pang Wan-chee and the other tourists killed or injured in Bangkok could never have guessed that they would be caught up in a bombing. Extremist attacks are not unusual in Thailand, but never before have they been staged in the capital with such callous disregard for life. The location and time - the popular Erawan Hindu Shrine in the symbolic heart of the city in the evening rush hour - revealed the aim was to cause as many deaths as possible. We feel the pain of the victims and the sorrow of the relatives of those whose lives were so senselessly taken.
Extremism today knows no bounds. The nature of communications means that radical thoughts and actions can spread widely and rapidly. What was once sacrosanct can no longer be considered untouchable; it is only as safe as policing and security makes it. The red alert that Hong Kong's government has issued for travel to Bangkok should not be taken as a warning of an imminent attack, but nor can it be disregarded. There has so far been no claim of responsibility for the bombing. Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the army general who led the coup that overthrew democratically elected Yingluck Shinawatra in May last year, has suggested the ousted leader's supporters may be involved. He made the same claim after a blast on the holiday island of Koh Samui in April. But it would be wrong to so quickly reach such a conclusion before an investigation has been carried out; it is one thing for radicals to protest against the junta with small-scale attacks, but quite another to carry out a mass-casualty bombing at a religious site near shopping malls, a train station and hotels.
There are no shortage of suspects. Beyond anti-government factions, there are Muslim separatists in the south, extremists like the Islamic State and Chinese media have suggested Uygurs angered by Thailand's recent deportation of compatriots. But what is certain is that harm has been done to Thailand's tourism sector and investors have been further scared off. Prayuth promised stability when the military seized power, but on his watch the capital's worst attack has taken place. There will be a temptation to round up opponents and crack down on Muslims, but that will only further damage relations with his government. The investigation has to be exhaustive and transparent; the victims, their families, Thais and those with connections to the country demand it.
Security footage of the main suspect in the bombing. Photo: Reuters
While the Thai government is not ruling out any possibility of who to blame for Monday's blast that killed at least 20 people at a popular Bangkok shrine, and another on Tuesday in which no one was hurt, theories are emerging that the attacks could be linked to religious conflicts.
A bomb was detonated at the Erawan Shrine in the popular Ratchaprasong shopping precinct in Chidlom district on Monday evening during rush hour, wounding 125 others. At least eight foreigners were among the dead, including six Chinese.
Thai police on Tuedsay narrowed their search to a lone suspect seen on surveillance footage wearing a yellow shirt and carrying a backpack.
Local authorities said earlier that the attack in the capital's bustling commercial hub during rush hour was aiming at damaging the economy.
Police had said that no group had been ruled out of suspicion but added that the attack did not match the tactics of Muslim insurgents in the south of the country. No one has claimed responsibility for either attack.
"Police are not ruling out anything, including [Thai] politics and the conflict with ethnic Uygurs who, before this, Thailand sent back to China," national police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang said.
Thailand forcibly repatriated 109 Uygurs to China last month. Chinese state media said some of them had planned to go to Syria and Iraq to carry out jihad. In recent years, Chinese Uygurs have used Thailand as a transit hub after fleeing China's Xinjiang region to make their way to Turkey, with whom they share religious and linguistic bonds.
Thailand is also popular with tourists from many countries.
Rohan Gunaratna, head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, refused to speculate about the culprits other than to say the attack was aimed at triggering religious conflict in mainly Buddhist Thailand.
"What is tragic is that the device was placed near a shrine, so it calls for the Thai government to [look into] conflicts in religious communities. [Whoever did it] understood the impact it will have for religious conflicts on Thailand," Gunaratna said.
He said the Thai government was working with international intelligence agencies to identify the perpetrator.
"It was certainly an attack that fully intended to create chaos because the bomb was designed and placed to kill and injure a large number of foreigners and Thai nationals," he said.
Professor Yang Shu, an expert on Central Asia at Lanzhou University in Gansu province, agreed that the attack was religiously motivated.
"In my view, it's highly likely that it was in line with the recent rise of international Islamic extremist acts," Yang said.
"According to our figures, about 6,000 Thais died in conflicts between 2004 and 2014 initiated by Islamic separatists in southern Thailand. Of those, 40 per cent were Buddhists. It's very natural for them to attack monks and temples."
He said it was possible that Uygurs launched the attack, but the chances were not high, adding that there was not enough evidence to suggest Chinese were being targeted.
Raffaello Pantucci, from Britain's Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, also thought it was unlikely that Uygurs were responsible for the bombing.
Even though Bangkok had returned 109 Uygurs to China, it had also turned about 200 others over to Turkey.
"It shows that the Thai government has definitely given it a bit more thought [than just following the Chinese government's request to repatriate all Uygurs]," Pantucci said.
"It would be surprising [if it was initiated by Uygurs]. It would be such a change for them.
"Thailand is also a busy transport route for foreigners and [different] terrorists," he said, noting that [the Shia Islamist militant group] Hezbollah had tried to build a large bomb last year in Thailand but was disrupted.
Pan Zhiping , a professor at Xinjiang University's Central Asia Research Centre, did not rule out Uygur involvement in the attack, because many of them transited through Thailand after fleeing China, but said much more investigation was needed.
A bank employee counts Thai baht notes. Photo: Reuters
Thailand's currency slumped to a six-year low yesterday and shares fell in Bangkok over concerns an unprecedented attack in the capital could hit the vital tourism sector.
At least 20 people were killed and over 120 wounded when a bomb ripped through a Bangkok religious shrine late on Monday, in what authorities said was the worst ever attack on Thai soil.
The baht fell as much as 0.8 per cent to 35.648 against the dollar yesterday, hitting its lowest point since April 2009.
Bangkok shares slumped as much as 2.8 per cent in opening deals, their steepest decline this year, before paring losses to a fall of 1.99 per cent by early afternoon.
Tourism-linked companies led the sell-off, with Airports of Thailand plunging 6.62 per cent while Central Plaza Hotel tumbled 10.60 per cent. "Thailand is vulnerable right now as economic growth and corporate earnings are weak, while tourism is not doing great," Andrew Stotz, CEO of Bangkok-based Stotz Investment Research, said.
The timing of the blast just as "we're coming into this high tourism season" means it could be particularly damaging to the sector, which accounts for 8.5 per cent of GDP, he added.
Police said two Chinese, two Hong Kongers, two Malaysians, one Indonesian and a Singaporean were among those killed in the attack on the Erawan shrine in the heart of Bangkok's tourist and commercial centre.
Morgan Stanley said big-spending Chinese tourists - whose numbers have soared in recent years, bucking a general downtrend - are particularly likely to be put off by the unrest in Bangkok.
Last year around 4.6 million Chinese nationals visited the kingdom, with the average tourist spending 5,500 baht (HK$1,200) per day, more than the average European visitor.
The attack comes after Thailand's economy slowed in the second quarter, hit by weak domestic demand and exports, with growth expected to be hampered this year by China's devaluation of the yuan.Gross domestic product grew 2.8 per cent between April and June compared to a year earlier, official data showed on Monday, slowing from 3 per cent in the previous quarter.
Hours before the blast, Thailand's planning board trimmed its 2015 growth forecast to 2.7-3.2 per cent, down from 3-4 per cent.
It also warned growth faces "major constraints" after China devalued the yuan last week, sparking fears of a currency war in Asia in which countries vie to keep their exports competitive by depreciating their units.
The Thai baht is among several Asia-Pacific currencies that have slumped since the yuan cut, suffering their worst two-day sell-off since the Asian financial crisis last week.
Experts look for clues yesterday at the Erawan Shrine in central Bangkok, site of the blast on Monday that killed 20 people. Photo: Reuters
Less than 24 hours after a deadly blast gutted the core of central Bangkok, Thai police said last night that they believed a man donning a yellow T-shirt and carrying a backpack had set off the explosion that killed 20 people and injured 125.
Their initial findings came as Hong Kong reeled in shock that two of its own - young female friends enjoying their summer break in the hip tourist spot - were among the dead.
The carnage also claimed the lives of four mainlanders while around 20 suffered injuries, including a 10-year-old girl whom Thai media reported was in a coma. With such casualty figures, Monday's attack outside the Erawan Shrine beloved by East Asians was one of the deadliest in recent years for Chinese nationals on foreign soil.
Earlier in the day, National Police Chief Somyot Pumpanmuang said that police were "not ruling out anything, including Thai politics and the conflict of ethnic Uygurs who, before this, Thailand sent back to China".
Thailand forcibly returned 109 Uygurs to China last month.
Later, when police released photos of the man, with and without the backpack, based on images taken from closed-circuit video at the shrine minutes before the bombing, police spokesman Prawut Tharvornsiri said: "The yellow shirt guy is not just the suspect. He is the bomber."
A Hong Kong survivor, Jaral Jintara, was among those on the scene as the suspect was about to unleash terror.
"I had just finished visiting the Erawan Shrine with my husband. We came out of the shrine and were waiting for the traffic lights to change so we could cross the road," she told the South China Morning Post from her hospital bed.
The traffic lights turned and pedestrians started crossing the road. Jaral then saw a motorcycle speeding in front of her and exploding outside the shrine.
"I was bleeding so badly at that point I thought I would die," said Jaral, who received stitches to her head and legs. Her husband was treated at another hospital.
Two Hong Kong women - Vivian Chan Wing-Yan, 19, who was studying law in Britain, and her friend Arcadia Pang Wan-chee, 24, a former student at the Institute of Vocational Education - were not so lucky.
Staff at Bangkok Metropolitan Administration General Hospital said Chan died at around 10pm on Monday. "She suffered injuries to the heart, liver and abdomen," a nurse said, showing the Post the bag and accessories Chan left behind.
Friends described Chan, a food blogger, as "cheerful and friendly", while Pang was remembered as a gentle and quiet but friendly person. Their families are in Bangkok with Immigration Department officials.
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha called the explosion "the worst incident that has ever happened in Thailand", saying the perpetrators "want to destroy our economy, our tourism".
The improvised explosive device scattered body parts, spattered blood, blasted windows and burned motorbikes to their bare metal. Bangkok was rocked again yesterday when another explosive device blew up at a ferry pier, but no one was hurt.
Other foreign victims include two Malaysians, one Indonesian and a Singaporean.
The blast comes at a sensitive time for Thailand, which has been riven for a decade by a sometimes violent struggle for power between political factions in Bangkok. An interim parliament hand-picked by a junta that seized power in a 2014 coup is due to vote on a draft constitution next month.
Tourism makes up 10 per cent of the economy, with 4.6 million mainlanders and nearly half a million Hongkongers visiting Thailand last year.
As the city tried to pick up the pieces yesterday, Thais were out in force offering help to victims. Among them was Paween Huang, 30, a Chinese who grew up there, offering interpreting services to Chinese families. At Chulalongkorn Hospital, she said: "We should stand united."
Jasmine Chu, nine, has a large piece of bomb shrapnel in one of her thighs. Photo: Chu King-fun
A nine-year-old Hong Kong girl injured in the Bangkok blast on Monday is now fighting for her life undergoing a six-hour operation for doctors to remove a large piece of bomb shrapnel from her thigh, the father says as he waits at the hospital.
The doctors were optimistic about the chances of a successful operation, Chu King-fun, 61, said, but added that this was not entirely reassuring.
Earlier on Tuesday, doctors had told him upon initial examination that his daughter, Jasmine Chu Sum-yu, could be discharged after simple procedures were taken to remove the shrapnel.
But the doctors made a U-turn after conducting an MRI and said she had to be sent into intensive care immediately.
“The doctors said that if this big piece of shrapnel could not be removed from the thigh in time, this could cost her the leg or even her life,” Chu told the South China Morning Post on Tuesday night.
Father and daughter had travelled together to the Thai capital for a five-day trip, but Jasmine was injured in the bomb blast that ripped through Erawan Shrine shortly after 7pm on Monday.
Jasmine’s surgery started at 8pm local time on Tuesday and was expected to last till 2am. This was the second time she had to be operated on in 24 hours, Chu said.
A friend who was with the family was not so lucky; she did not make it and was confirmed dead at the scene.
When the blast happened, she had been walking with Chu, behind Jasmine, who was walking with another family friend. The two groups were separated by a space of “20 to 30 people”.
“When I got there, about a dozen people lying near her were all unconscious, but I could see her still trying to stand up,” Chu said.
“When I later asked [Jasmine] why she had made it but not my friend, she didn’t seem to know either. But it seemed things might have been different had she and my friend swapped places while walking down the street.”
The large piece of iron shrapnel, which doctors believed had come from a home-made bomb judging from the nails and iron used, had pierced Jasmine’s thigh.
The doctors warned that if the removal was not done properly, the main arteries in the thigh might be cut, which could cost the girl her leg or even her life.
But Chu was probably too exhausted to feel anxious by the time he talked to the Post at the cafeteria of the hospital. He said he had not slept at all after the blast, and apart from checking Jasmine’s situation with doctors and taking endless phone calls, he was also with the Thai police for three hours in the afternoon to give his statement.
“All that time, I was still wearing the same bloodstained T-shirt,” the retired employee of a stock brokerage said.
He was worried as his daughter appeared to be worsening every hour on Tuesday.
“Her leg was swelling and getting bigger every hour; it felt so cold when I touched it,” he said.
“Even the insurance company said an operation was needed as soon as possible. That told you how urgent it really was.”
Financial matters were not on his mind right now, he said, since insurance should get almost everything covered.
“Now it feels we’re here only for the blast,” Chu said.
Parliament: Singaporean killed, 7 Singapore citizens injured in Bangkok blast
Experts investigate the Erawan shrine at the site of a deadly blast in central Bangkok, Thailand on Aug 18, 2015.PHOTO: REUTERS
Published 18 August 2015
Wong Siew Ying
SINGAPORE - A Singaporean woman was killed and seven Singaporeans were injured in the bomb blast near the Erawan Shrine in central Bangkok on Monday night, Foreign Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam told Parliament in a ministerial statement on Tuesday (Aug 18).
The Straits Times understands that the deceased is Melisa Liu Rui Chun, 34. Her husband Ng Su Teck, 35 was injured by glass shrapnel.
Mr Shanmugam said Singapore strongly condemns the "heinous attack", which left over 20 people dead and 120 injured so far.
"We have all been deeply shocked by the bombing in central Bangkok yesterday... Members will join me in extending our deepest condolences to the family to the young lady who was killed," Mr Shanmugam said.
"Someone's evil action. And a life of promise snatched away in a moment of terror, and an innocent family's lifetime of grief. It is a tragic loss to all who were injured including the Singaporeans. We wish them speedy recovery," he added.
Singapore's ambassador to Thailand, Mrs Chua Siew San, visited the injured Singaporeans in the hospitals on Tuesday.
Giving an update, Mr Shanmugam said: "All are receiving medical attention and treatment. Some of those who suffered light injuries have been discharged."
He added that Singapore extends its deepest sympathies to the people and Government of Thailand, as well as to the victims of the blast.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has been "working overnight" to contact and assist Singaporeans in Bangkok, and its embassy is in close contact with the Thai authorities, Mr Shanmugam added.
The MFA will continue to render consular assistance to the affected Singaporeans.
"We strongly condemn this heinous attack... nothing can justify the killing of innocent civilians. This is the latest in a long series of such attacks. Unfortunately, it won't be the last. The Thai authorities have launched investigations. Those responsible for this act must be brought to justice," he added.
Bangkok blast: 34-year-old Singaporean woman among those killed; husband injured
Emergency vehicles and members of the Fire Department arrive to assist following an explosion at the Ratchaprasong intersection in Bangkok, Thailand, on Aug. 17, 2015. PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
Published Aug 18, 2015, 10:18 am SGT
Tan Hui Yee
Thailand Correspondent
BANGKOK - A 34-year-old Singaporean woman was killed in the bomb blast that rocked the heart of the Thai capital on Monday night, while her husband was injured.
Madam Melisa Liu Rui Chun died on the spot, according to Thai Police Major-General Dr Pornchai Suteerakune, commander of the Institute of Forensic Medicine.
Her husband Ng Su Teck, 35, who was injured by glass shrapnel, told The Straits Times that he plans to return to Singapore on Wednesday.
Mr Ng, who works in sales, did not want to talk much when The Straits Times visited him at Ramathibodi Hospital.
In a statement on Tuesday, Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said: “Our embassy in Bangkok is currently providing consular assistance to the family of the deceased.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the bereaved family for their loss. We are deeply saddened by this development, and reiterate our strong condemnation of this indiscriminate act of violence,’’ MFA said.
Mrs Chua Siew San, Singapore’s ambassador to Thailand, visited the other injured Singaporeans at various local hospitals on Tuesday, said MFA. All are receiving medical attention, while those with light injuries have been discharged.
The Singapore embassy will continue to provide consular support for the injured Singaporeans and their next-of-kin, MFA said without elaborating on how many Singaporeans were injured.
“MFA has also contacted the majority of the registered Singaporeans in Bangkok. We are monitoring the situation closely,” said the ministry.
At least 21 people were killed and more than 120 wounded in the bomb attack at the Erawan Shrine which is popular with both locals and tourists. The dead also included citizens from China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
The bomb reportedly contained up to 3kg of explosives.
“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 on Tuesday.
The bomb was detonated at around 6.30pm, sending a fireball into the sky as commuters and tourists fled in panic.
The blast occurred at a major traffic intersection flanked by upscale hotels and shopping malls. It was still cordoned off onTuesday.
Hundreds of schools were closed, with the police tightening security by setting up checkpoints across the city.
Zheng Jiu in a photo taken last month and provided by his friend. Photo: SCMP Pictures
A young man from China’s Sichuan province who was living in Bangkok after graduating from university is fighting for his life after being caught in the blast on Monday night.
Zheng Jiu, 22, was standing near the Erawan Shrine in the Ratchaprasong district when the bomb went off shortly after 7pm, according to mainland media reports.
He is among at least 20 Chinese nationals who were injured in the explosion, according to the Chinese embassy in Bangkok.
Three mainlanders and two Hongkongers have been confirmed dead.
Zheng remains in a coma after undergoing brain surgery at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, and his friends say doctors are not optimistic.
Shards of glass sent flying by the explosion pierced his brain. Some of the pieces were removed in the first operation, but even if the next one goes well, Zheng will have suffered severe brain damage. His mother in Sichuan had been contacted and authorities were trying to arrange for her to fly to Bangkok to approve further surgery, said his friend Nick Qiu.
“When I saw him lying there [in the hospital], my heart went cold,” Qiu, who also lives in Bangkok, told the South China Morning Post.
Zheng Jiu, in an undated picture provided by his friends. Photo: SCMP Pictures
His friend’s head was bandaged and swollen. His arms and legs were tied to the hospital bed to protect him when his body suddenly spasms. He is breathing with the help of an oxygen tank.
“I don’t know how to describe the feeling. My heart just feels so uncomfortable. All we can do is to wait for news,” Qiu, 28, said.
Zheng is from Guanghan – a city under Deyang northeast of the provincial capital of Chengdu – and went to Thailand to study at Chiang Mai University in the north. He recently moved to Bangkok to find work.
According to mainland media reports, he was waiting near the shrine to show Chinese tourists around when the explosion occurred. His friends said they last spoke with him at 6pm that day, and he was on his way home after visiting his girlfriend outside the city.
After hearing the initial news that Chinese were among the injured, his friends began calling each other to find out whether Zheng was among them. They checked with hospitals across the city throughout the night. At 9am, they received a call from a nurse at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, who had plugged in Zheng’s mobile phone and discovered the contacts.
In the intensive care unit, Zheng is beside eight others who are also in critical condition. According to Xinhua, 25 of the injured are being treated at the same hospital.
At least three other Chinese tourists are being treated at Police General Hospital, including Chen Yunhua.
“I was at the site when the blast took place. Suddenly, three places were ablaze,” Chen told Xinhua.
Police investigate the scene around the Erawan Shrine the morning. Photo: AP
Six Chinese people - two from Hong Kong and three from the mainland - have been confirmed dead in the wake of last night's devastating bomb blast in the heart of the Thai capital Bangkok, the Chinese embassy in Thailand confirmed on Tuesday.
Another 22 Chinese including 17 from mainland China, two from Hong Kong and three from China’s Taiwan, were receiving treatment in hospitals, the embassy had said earlier, adding more than 10 others, who sustained minor injuries, have been discharged from hospital.
One Chinese national remained missing in the blast, according to the embassy.
Vivian Chan, 19, died in the blast. Photo: SCMP Pictures
At least 21 people lost their lives and at least 117 others were injured in the deadly blast at a busy intersection near the Erawan Shrine in the Ratchaprasong district shortly after 7pm on Monday night. The area is normally thronging with both Thais and foreign tourists.
An Immigration Department spokesman earlier that the two Hongkongers who died were women aged 19 and 24. Six other Hong Kong people were injured, all of whom - apart from one who was discharged - are being treated at hospitals in the Thai capital.
The South China Morning Post has confirmed the two Hong Kong women who died were Vivian Chan Wing-yan, 19, and Arcadia Pang Wan-chee, 24.
A staff member of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration General Hospital told the Hong Kong media Chan was admitted at around 8pm last night and was certified dead about two hours later. No friends or family members were with her when she was at the hospital.
"[She suffered) injuries to the heart, liver and abdomen," a nurse at the intensive care unit said, showing the bag and accessories Chan left behind.
Vivian Chan's Hong Kong ID card. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Chan also suffered from a collapsed lung.
Another nurse said a nine-year-old Hong Kong girl also suffered injuries to her head, neck and knee and has been transferred to a private hospital. Her situation remained unclear.
Pang, meanwhile, was certified dead at Police General Hospital.
Arcadia Pang, 24, was killed in the attack. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Hong Kong’s Secretary for Food and Health Dr Ko Wing-man said the government is very concerned about the bombing. He expressed condolences to the victims’ families and said the Immigration Department is offering assistant to those who are in Thailand now. The Hospital Authority would cooperate and offer help to the wounded if necessary.
Three Hong Kong immigration officers will fly to Bangkok this morning to provide help to the victims and their family members.
Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority sent a team to Bangkok to offer help to the injured and relatives of the victims.
Before departing this morning, a Hospital Authority spokesman said the team includes a clinical psychologist and a senior counsellor.
“We would like to give psychological support to the bereaved relatives of the deceased,” he said.
He said they would like to see what assistance they could offer to the injured and assess any need to transport victims back to Hong Kong.
The bag Hong Kong victim Vivian Chan left behind. Photo: Phila Siu
China's Foreign Ministry has initiated an emergency response, demanding the country's embassy in Bangkok launch an investigation and go all-out to help treat the injured.
Witnesses told the Post about the moment the bomb exploded.
Thai man Patavee Teeravanitchanunt's girlfriend left his side for just five minutes when the bomb exploded next to the shrine.
"My girlfriend was praying inside," he said as he waited anxiously outside the Police General Hospital, which is just about 40 metres away from the shrine.
When the explosion took place Patavee was drinking coffee in a nearby coffee shop. He heard a few loud bangs and immediately went outside to see what happened.
"There are many bodies ... an ambulance came about five minutes later but [the scene was] messy," the 38-year-old said in the early hours of Tuesday.
"[There was] no fire but a lot of black smoke."
Patavee rushed to all six hospitals that were said to be treating the injured. But he said that none of the staff at the hospitals had any information about his 30-year-old girlfriend.
"I don't know where she is now. No news ... I can just stay here," he said as he sat outside the Police General Hospital
Police officer Anan Nananikum said at the hospital that a 24-year-old mainland Chinese woman was killed. A 50-year-old woman thought to be the deceased's mother was injured.
Thai emergency staff help the injured after the scene of an explosion near Erawan Shrine. Photo: EPA
He could not confirm whether anyone from Hong Kong had been hospitalised. The full list of the injured and dead was still being processed in the early hours of Tuesday.
Soon after the explosion, volunteers - locals and tourists - rushed to hospitals to offer translation services.
Among them was a Malaysian bilingual man named Shen, who came to the hospital to see if anyone needed his help as a translator in Thai, Cantonese or Putonghua.
Medical workers rush the victim of a blast at the Erawan shrine to a nearby hospital. Photo: Reuters
"Bombs went off [in Bangkok] a few years ago," said the 42-year-old, who has been working in the hotel business in Thailand for 10 years.
"I think the explosion was targeted at tourists. This is one of the places where many tourists visit. If whoever did this want to target Thais, it didn't have to be here."
He waited at the hospital for a few hours yesterday but did not see any families of Chinese victims.
Taiwanese tour groups undeterred in wake of Bangkok bombing
CNA 2015-08-18 17:27
Tourists at the Siam Skytrain station in Bangkok, Aug. 17. (Photo/Xinhua)
Taiwanese tour groups are still heading to Thailand despite the deadly explosion that occurred near a religious shrine in Bangkok late Monday, Tourism Bureau official Chen Chiung-hua said Tuesday.
According to the bureau's latest figures, there were 14 Taiwanese tour groups consisting of 275 individuals in Thailand as of Tuesday.
Chen said the blast did not appear to be having any immediate effect on tour groups leaving for Thailand, but the bureau will continue to monitor the number of tour groups and individuals leaving for the Southeast Asian country over the next week.
Tour groups from Kaohsiung will leave for Bangkok as planned, Shen Pen-li, a representative of the Kaohsiung Association Of Travel Agencies, said Tuesday.
Shen said the Erawan Shrine, which was near where the blast occurred, is not a popular spot on tour group itineraries, and he had not heard of any individuals from Kaohsiung being injured in the blast as of Tuesday morning.
Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has posted a "yellow" travel warning for Thailand since last May. A yellow alert means that travelers should pay special attention to their personal safety if travel to the country cannot be avoided.
Under the Foreign Ministry's four-color travel alert system, red represents the highest warning level, while orange means travelers should take precautions and avoid unnecessary travel. Yellow is the next step down, and gray is the lowest-level travel alert.
Taipei, Aug. 18 (CNA) A father and his two daughters who had been injured by a powerful explosion in downtown Bangkok a day earlier returned to Taiwan and immediately proceeded to National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei to continue medical treatment Tuesday.
At Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, the father, surnamed Chang, told reporters that his 11-year-old daughter still had shrapnel in her leg that called for immediate medical attention. "She has been brave," he said.
Chang, who received eight stitches to his back in the wake of the blast that killed at least 22 and injured more than 120, said his family was just 10 meters away from the explosion and they were lucky to have been shielded by a bridge pier.
"Without the bridge pier standing between us and the blast, we would have been killed," Chang said, noting that his other daughter, 14, was just slightly injured.
Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said six Taiwanese nationals were injured in Monday's bombing in Bangkok. Another father-daughter pair was in a Thai hospital undergoing surgery, according to the Tourism Bureau. A sixth woman, whose family name is Hung, sustained severe burns and is being treated at an overseas Chinese hospital.
Five bodies unidentified; several injured critical
The Nation August 19, 2015 1:00 am
FIVE bodies, one of them severely damaged, remain unidentified in the wake of Monday's bloody bomb blast.
The attack, described as the worst in Thai history, rocked the crowded Erawan Shrine at Ratchaprasong Intersection shortly before 7pm on August 17. The blast claimed 20 lives.
Of the people killed, authorities said yesterday they were still unable to identify five. Three were women, and another is a man. The other could not be identified even by sex, as the body is beyond recognition.
In addition to the 20 deaths, the blast also injured more than 100 people.
Public Health Minister Rajata Rajatanavin said yesterday the government would pay for medical treatments of all people injured.
Many nationalities
Foreigners of various nationalities are among the victims. "Two Chinese women are still in the intensive care units of the Ratchawithi Hospital," he said.
Institute of Forensic Science chief Pol Maj-General Pornchai Sutheera-kun said the dead included 16 at Police General Hospital, three at Chulalongkorn Hospital, one at the Central Hospital. The bodies have been sent to the institute to determine the cause of death. Five of those killed were identified as Thai, while the rest were foreigners. Pornchai said relatives should bring personal information such as dental records to identify family members.
The number people killed by the bomb at Ratchaprasong intersection rose to 20 with 125 injured, a doctor at Police General Hospital said yesterday.
Pol Maj-General Withoon Nitiwarangkoon, a high-ranking doctor at Police General, said dozens of injured people had been sent there because of its close proximity to the scene.
Some 39 of those admitted had been released from hospital, while four had died before arriving. Six are still being treated, and another 23 were transferred to other hospitals.
Of the six being treated, three are in intensive care units. A bomb fragment hit one victim in the stomach, while the second victim was a 10-year old child also hit by shrapnel in the stomach. The third ICU patient sustained broken legs.
Withoon said the hospital would set up a centre to provide information on the deaths and injured from the bomb attack, with interpreters to give information to relatives. Up to 80 Chinese and English interpreters have volunteered to provide support for the centre, which was adequate at this stage, he said.
The centre would also check the identity of those injured and killed. It will also co-ordinate with other hospitals to help search for any missing people. Seven people who were killed in the bomb attack have yet to be identified.
In critical condition
Erawan Rescue Centre reported that two of six patients at the Police General Hospital were in a critical condition. One was identified as Mr Koto Ando, 31, a Japanese visitor. Hit in the back by several pieces of shrapnel, he arrived at the hospital unconscious after losing a lot of blood.
A 10-year old Chinese girl is also being treated in an emergency ward after a surgery to stop bleeding on Monday night.
Several others also suffered deep wounds with internal organs torn apart. Some had to have part of their intestines removed. Medical personnel have also been trying to save the lives of some victims who suffered disseminated intra-vascular coagulation (DIC).
The Japanese man's condition has become stable, but he has not regained consciousness yet.
Meanwhile, the Department of Consular Affairs will issue urgent visas to relatives of the injured and deaths that want to come to Thailand. People can get additional information from Thai embassies in their countries.
Institute of Forensic Science chief Pol Maj-General Pornchai Sutheerakun said bodies of the deceased had been sent to the institute to determine their cause of death.
