Chinese confirmed dead in Bangkok blast

The initial bomb exploded at around 7 p.m. (1200GMT) in Rajprasong, a commercial area of central Bangkok near the Erawan Shrine – a revered Hindu statue visited by thousands of tourists every day.

A blast ripped through Erawan Shrine, a tourist attraction, at 7pm local time (midnight Monday NZT).

Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters there were “still anti-government groups out there” but gave no further details.

‘There have been minor bombs or just noise, but this time they aimed for innocent lives, ‘ Mr Prayuth said.

“It is much clearer who the bombers are, but I can’t reveal more right now”, he said.

He did not elaborate the nationality of the suspect but said the bomb attack might be a retaliation to the recent operation of the Thai government.

The Bangkok Post reports that a second bomb was found and detonated by police officers.

A massive manhunt focused on the suspect in the yellow t-shirt today after fresh video emerged showing him leaving a backpack at the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok minutes before a blast killed 22 people.

Two people from China and one from the Philippines were among the dead, a tourist police officer said.

On Monday, terrorism experts said the bombing is likely the result of the country’s growing internal strife and is not the work of the Islamic State militants or other global extremists.

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said: “Foreign Office officials are in close contact with the Thai authorities and have offered UK assistance in the investigation of this abhorrent act”.

The Scovells’ extended family, with many other Thai nationals, took to social media in unity.

“There were bodies everywhere”, said Marko Cunningham, a New Zealand paramedic working with a Bangkok ambulance service, who said the blast had left a two-meter-wide (6-foot) crater.

Officials on the scene expressed no doubt that the blast intended to kill people and deliver a blow to Thailand’s tourism industry, which accounts for about one-tenth of the kingdom’s economy. “Some were shredded. It was horrific”, he told the Reuters news agency.

Bangkok has been relatively peaceful since a military coup ousted a civilian government last May after several months of sometimes violent political protests against the previous administration.

While Thai authorities say they have not confirmed who was behind the attack, they did not rule out a link with the country’s turbulent domestic politics.