At least 18 dead and 80 injured in Bangkok shrine blast

The old Erawan Hotel was torn down in 1991 and replaced by the Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok, but the shrine remained and became a popular attraction for tourists and locals, who all paid their respects to it.

The victims are believed to be Thai, Chinese or Filipino citizens said police chief Somyot Poompanmuang.

The Thai Government has said the attack was designed to harm their tourism industry, but as of yet nobody has claimed responsibility.

There was panic in one of Bangkok’s most popular districts. Local reports suggest at least 19 people have died and at least 120 more have been injured.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha promised to “hurry and find the bombers”.

He arrived on the scene minutes after the explosion when his Thai girlfriend – who worked nearby – called him.

The explosion took place at around 7 pm outside the Erawan Shrine, in an area filled with tourists and office workers.

‘I’m still in shock. Weerachon said dozens were injured, and that some foreigners were among the hurt.

“It was very surreal to go down after and to see the bodies of the people, to see people injured”.

Charred and shattered motorcycles littered the scene, alongside hunks of concrete, with pools of blood on the pavement and two bodies crumpled on the steps of the shrine.

Scores were wounded in the explosion.

Maj. Gen. Sriwara Ransibrahmanakul told CNN that security was being tightened throughout the city. Other reports said the device planted on a motorbike. Two pipe bombs exploded outside a luxury shopping mall in the same area in February, but caused little damage.

Somyot Poompummuang, Thai national police chief, said: “The blast radius of the bomb is about 100 metres”.

Police and soldiers at the scene of the deadly explosion.

It accounts for about 10% of the economy, and the government had expected a record number of visitors this year following a sharp fall in 2014 during months of street protests and the coup. The capital has been relatively calm since then.

There has been no changes to the New Zealand travel advisory for Thailand, but travellers are being advised to register online with SafeTravel – the official advisory.

A government spokesman said it was too early to speculate on who was behind the attack.

It was still advising caution in most parts of Thailand, including Bangkok, due to the threat of terrorism and potential for violent civil unrest.

Officials from the Chinese embassy in Thailand have rushed to the site of the blast, and to hospitals to visit the injured.

They aim to drive out Buddhist migrants from the north and establish the three southernmost provinces of Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani as an independent sultanate – as they were until their incorporation into Siam, now Thailand, a century ago.