BANGKOK — A bomb exploded Monday within a central Bangkok shrine that is among the city’s most popular tourist spots, killing at least 18 people and injuring more than 100 across a hectic intersection surrounded by five-star hotels and upscale shopping malls.
It exploded during evening rush hour as the area was filled with tourists, office workers and shoppers.
“Suddenly there was a big boom, and the whole room just shook, like someone dropped a wrecking ball on top of our ceiling,” said Pim Niyomwan, an English instructor working on the eighth floor of the building right next to the shrine. “The whole building just shook. My four students were hysterical.”
Video shortly after the blast depicts a scene of shock and desperation: people running for their lives and crying amid the debris. An emergency worker in an ambulance, frantically pounding the chest of a victim.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing.
“Those who have planted this bomb are cruel,” said national police chief Somyot Poompummuang. “They aim to kill because everyone knows that at 7 p.m. the shrine is crowded with Thais and foreigners. Planting a bomb there means they want to see a lot of dead people.”
At least 18 people were confirmed dead and 117 injured, according to the Narinthorn emergency medical rescue center. The dead included Chinese and a Filipino, Somyot said.
As a single, devastating blow to this Southeast Asian metropolis, Monday’s bombing has no equal in recent history, although Thailand is no stranger to violent attacks. A more-than-decade-long insurgency by southern Muslim separatists has left more than 5,000 dead far from the capital. In 2010, politically charged riots centered at this intersection killed more than 90 over two months.
Police said the bomb was made with a pipe wrapped in cloth. Police said it was too soon to determine the motive.
