Bangkok shrine reopens as bomber hunted
Thai monks have prayed at the reopening of a Bangkok shrine where 20 people died, as police hunt a man seen planting what is believed to be the bomb.
The bomb struck early on Monday evening as worshippers and tourists crowded into the Erawan shrine in the Thai capital’s commercial heart, but no-one has yet claimed responsibility.
The unprecedented attack on the Thai capital left at least 11 foreigners dead, with Chinese, Hong Kong, Singaporean, Indonesian and a family from Malaysia among the victims.
More than 100 other people were wounded by the blast that shredded bodies and incinerated motorcycles at one of the city’s busiest intersections.
Police said a second explosion at a Bangkok pier on Tuesday that caused no injuries may be linked, deepening fears for Bangkok residents with police conceding they do not know who was responsible.
Around a dozen Buddhist monks led prayers at the Erawan shrine as it re-opened early on Wednesday while devotees – including tourists held joss sticks.
The shrine and its surrounding have already been largely restored with twisted iron railings the only immediate sign of the carnage.
Police believe the bomb was made up of three kilograms of explosives and ball bearings.
One devotee had more reason than most to give thanks.
Tommy Goh, 56, a Thai-Malaysian from Penang, said only a delayed taxi from his hotel spared him from being at the shrine around the time of the blast.
“Every year I come down to this shrine, we were meant to be here around 6.50-7pm but the taxi didn’t arrive from the hotel … so we went somewhere else,” he told AFP.
“Ten minutes later and it could have been so different.”
Police released images Tuesday showing a man, apparently young, slightly built and wearing a yellow T-shirt and dark shorts, walking into the shrine with a backpack.
In the video he calmly places the backpack underneath a bench and then walks away clutching a blue plastic bag and what looks like a smartphone.
The bomb exploded several minutes later, leading Thailand police to make the man their prime suspect.
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