[BlueDragon193]

Explosion rocks Bangkok commercial hub, killing 27.

A bomb went off near a Skytrain station at Ratchaprasong in the evening and two more unexploded bombs were found in the area.

BANGKOK: A bomb exploded outside a religious shrine in central Bangkok on Monday evening, killing 27 people, said Thai media. At least 78 people were injured.

Body parts were scattered across the street after the explosion outside the Erawan Shrine in the downtown Chidlom district of the Thai capital.

The first explosive device went off near a Skytrain station. A second one was found near the Erawan Shrine and the bomb squad was deactivating a third as of 9pm.

Thailand's Defence Minister said the bomb had targeted "foreigners" to try to damage the vital tourist industry. "It was a TNT bomb... the people who did it targeted foreigners and to damage tourism and the economy," Prawit Wongsuwong said.

There were foreigners among the casualties, reported Reuters, citing The Nation television. Most of the injured were tourists from China and Taiwan, the report added.

A Channel NewsAsia cameraman said some of the fatalities reported appear to be tourists. Reporter Panu Wongchaum said traffic has been closed in the surrounding areas and police were getting people to leave the scene. He added that authorities are at the scene, trying to determine the type of explosive that caused the blast.
Ambulances and emergency services were also present, working to clear the scene, according to a Channel NewsAsia reporter on the ground.

The Erawan is an enormously popular shrine to the Hindu god Brahma but is visited by thousands of Buddhist devotees every day.
It is located on a main road through Bangkok's commercial hub and is surrounded by three major shopping malls. Police and ambulances rushed to the scene after the bomb went off around 7pm (8pm Singapore time).
- CNA/AFP/dl/xq