Bangkok Bomber Suspect Police Sketch Released

However, investigators have not been able to determine the nationality of the man or ascertain if he was still in Thailand, National Chief of Police Somyot Poompanmoung said Wednesday, according to Reuters. A government spokesman said that both bombs used TNT but no link has been made to Monday’s attack and no one was hurt. A nearby iron fence was bent by the force of the explosion. Meanwhile workers cleaned up the debris at the site. The Associated Press reports that police released security video of a man wearing a yellow shirt and who they say placed the device in a bustling area of town.

No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing of the Erawan shrine, a popular attraction for Hindus and Buddhists from Thailand and other parts of Asia, especially China.

Those killed included several Thai victims, six Chinese, a Malaysian family of four, an Indonesian, a Singaporean woman, and a British teenager. The shrine’s location adds to its popularity, offering an open-air place for prayer amid the capital’s gleaming shopping malls and five-star hotels.

Authorities released a sketch of the man who left behind the backpack and offered a 1 million baht ($28,000) reward for information leading to his arrest.

The image is of a man in a yellow shirt caught on camera sitting on a bench and taking off a large, black backpack inside the shrine before standing up and walking away without it.

EPA Charge d’affaires of the Embassy of the US in Thailand, W Patrick Murphy (right, back) lays garland flowers to worship the Hindu god Brahma (L, foreground) at the sacred Erawan Shrine, as it reopened to the public, in central Bangkok.

“There have been minor bombs or just noise, but this time they aimed for innocent lives”, he said.

“When I dropped him, he still appeared very calm just like (a) normal customer”.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha appealed to the man in the video to come forward, warning that the suspect “might get killed to stop him from talking”.

Others praised the government response in the aftermath of the blast. “It’s a network”, he added.

Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-O-cha yesterday vowed to capture the bomber and asked media not to speculate. The pipe bomb exploded in the Chao Phraya River but caused no injuries.

Another 68 people remain in critical condition after a blast that shredded bodies and incinerated motorcycles at one of the city´s busiest intersections, sending a shockwave through the country´s pivotal tourist industry.

Thailand has experienced a near-decade-long political crisis that has seen endless rounds of street violence. He did not elaborate on how police knew which langauge the suspect spoke.