Bomb blast rocks Bangkok intersection; 15 reported dead

Twenty seven people, including four foreigners, were killed and 117 others injured in a powerful bomb blast inside a hugely popular Lord Brahma temple in a crowded area in Bangkok on Monday in the first such attack in the Thai capital.

At least two bombs were found at the scene, said Maj.

“We have not discarded any possible motive”, he told at news conference at police headquarters.

He added that related authorities were urgently working to clarify the matter.

On July 17, 2015, a truck with three tons of explosives went off in a market in the northern Iraqi city of Bani Saad, where thousands of people were gathered to celebrate the end of Ramadan, killing 120 people. “I saw there were hundreds of medics, police, fire brigades and looking at the ground trying to figure out what happened and if there were any wounded still in the area”.

Some reports suggest the bomb was inside the shrine, while others say it was on one of six motorcycles seen strewn across the street in the aftermath.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Mashable reports Thailand’s government was dissolved in May of last year following a military coup, and the now-ruling military recently ignited significant tension by banning criticism of the government and declaring elections may be postponed until 2017.

Criticism of the junta has risen over the last few months given restrictions on public freedoms imposed by the regime. More than 6,400 people – mostly civilians – have been killed there. “It was like a meat market”, said Marko Cunningham, a New Zealand paramedic working with a Bangkok ambulance service, who said the blast left a two-meter-wide crater.

The US State Department said it was too soon to tell if the blast was a terrorist attack.

“It was a pipe bomb”, Mr Poompanmuang said.

Deputy Premier Prawit Wongsuwan said the incident might scare away foreign tourists to Bangkok and adversely affect tourist industry and economy as a whole.

Auto bombs are nearly unknown in Bangkok, but have been used in southern Thailand, where a Muslim separatist insurgency has been flaring for several years.

The Erawan shrine, on a busy corner near top hotels, shopping centers, offices and a hospital, is a major attraction, especially for visitors from East Asia, including China.

The Erawan Shrine, a tourist landmark that is also popular with Bangkok’s residents, sits at that intersection, as does a five-star hotel. Throngs of tourists come there to pray at all hours, lighting incense and offering flowers purchased from rows of stalls set up on the pavement along the shrine.

Thailand experienced a military coup in May 2014. Protesters from both sides sometimes faced armed attacks by unknown groups, with more than 90 people killed in 2010 during pro-Thaksin demonstrations that were quashed by the army.