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Thailand
Thai police release photos of Bangkok bombing suspect
Earlier today there was a second explosion in the capital. No injuries have been reported.
A THAI POLICE spokesman says a man seen in security video wearing a yellow T-shirt and carrying a backpack is believed to have set off the explosion at the Bangkok shrine.
“The yellow shirt guy is not just the suspect. He is the bomber,” Police Lt. Gen. Prawut Thavornsiri told The Associated Press.
Bomber
Prawut earlier said the man “is a suspect” and had released several photos of him, with and without the backpack, on a social media platform. The images were apparently taken from closed-circuit video at the Erawan Shrine before the bombing occurred around 7pm Monday near a busy Bangkok intersection.
Video footage posted separately on Thai media appeared to show the same man sitting on a bench at the crowded shrine, then taking off the backpack and leaving it behind as he walked away.
Earlier today a second explosion went off in the capital, this time at a ferry pier, police say.
There are no injuries reported.
Police said a explosive device was thrown from the Taksin Bridge on and blew up at Sathorn Pier after falling into the Chao Phraya River below.
Security camera footage shows a sudden blast of water dousing people on a walkway at the pier, as bystanders ran for safety.
The second explosion comes a a day after the deadly bombing that killed 20 people.
A reporter for Channel News Asia is on the scene and says the explosion took place around 1pm local time.
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Extra security is being drafted in to the capital.
The defence minister, meanwhile, said officials had no prior intelligence about Monday’s rush-hour bombing of a popular shrine at a hectic intersection.
The blast from the improvised explosive device scattered body parts, spattered blood, blasted windows and burned motorbikes to the metal.
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Death toll
The death toll from a bomb blast in the Thai capital rose to 20 today with 123 wounded, police said.
Eight tourists from China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore are among those killed in the attack.
The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs said there is no indication that there were any Irish people hurt in the bomb blast. It said it was making inquiries through the embassy in the city.
The bombing toolk place at the city’s popular Erawan shrine in the heart of Bangkok’s tourist and commercial centre.
“The bomb aimed at killing as many people as possible as the shrine is crowded at around 6 to 7 pm,” police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri said.
Prawut’s office released a breakdown of nationalities caught up in the blast that showed two Chinese, two Hong Kongers, two Malaysians, one Singaporean, an Indonesian and five Thais were confirmed killed.
The other victims have yet to be identified.
Scene of shock
Describing the scene RTÉ’s Morning Ireland today, Irish man James Atkinson said:
I am a fairly relaxed person naturally but a lot people seemed pretty concerned and were trying to get home. There was a bit of a scramble just to get out of the area.
He said no one really knew what had happened. This is not the first time there has been a bomb in Thailand, said however, he added that people thought things were “going back to normal” and they were “in the clear” after trouble last year.
Now people are wondering what is going to happen next, he said, adding that most people are in shock.
“This is the worst incident that has ever happened in Thailand” Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said.
“There have been minor bombs or just noise, but this time they aimed for innocent lives. They want to destroy our economy, our tourism.”
Tourist area
The explosion went off around 7pm in an upscale area filled with tourists, office workers and shoppers.
“Today we have seen the closed-circuit footage, we saw some suspects, but it wasn’t clear,” Prayuth said. “We have to find them first.”
Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said the attack, which no one immediately claimed responsibility for, was aimed at destroying the country’s economy by targeting a major tourist area.
“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 Tuesday morning. “We haven’t ruled out terrorism.”
He acknowledged that authorities had no idea an attack was planned.
The Erawan shrine sits at the foot of the five-star Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel and is surrounded by a string of other large hotels and malls that draw tens of thousands of visitors each day.
Dedicated to the Hindu god Brahma, it is visited by thousands of Buddhist devotees every day, particularly Chinese visitors who travel to Thailand in larger numbers than any other nationality.
With additional reporting from AFP and Christina Finn
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