Bombings reported in Bangkok
From Wikinews, the free news source you can write!
Sunday, December 31, 2006
- 10 November 2009: Ousted Thai PM arrives in Cambodia to take up government post
- 19 October 2009: Insurgent attack in South Thailand injures 24
- 7 October 2009: 40 injured after attacks in Thailand
- 10 August 2009: No tsunamis after two major earthquakes strike islands near India and Japan
- 22 July 2009: AFC Asian Cup: Thailand defeat Oman, Qatar draw with Vietnam
At least seven bomb blasts occurred early on New Year's Eve in Bangkok. Two people were killed and dozens injured.
Four explosions went off almost simultaneously in different parts of Thailand's capital city, at around 6:00 p.m. local time (1100 GMT).
The first blast was in a bus-stop shelter at Victory Monument, which is a busy hub for public transportation. Another blast occurred nearby. Five people were injured, and one of them died later at a hospital.
Another fatal attack was in the Khlong Toei port district near the Na Ranong intersection, where a bomb hidden in a trash can near a Chinese spirit shrine exploded and injured seven people, one of them a 10-year-old girl. Another was a 61-year-old man who later died at a hospital. The blast caused a secondary explosion to some nearby cooking-gas cylinders.
Seventeen people were wounded in a blast at a police box near a Big C supermarket at the Saphan Kwai intersection. A witness there said a man dropped a grenade from a pedestrian bridge.
Another blast was at a police box on Sukhumvit Soi 62. There were no injuries.
A blast was reported at a police box in Nonthaburi Province on the northern outskirts of Bangkok. There was another explosion at a Tesco Lotus store in Prachachuen, while another was planted in a trash bin at Seacon Square, a shopping mall in suburban Bangkok's Prawet district. A bomb squad was able to defuse the device without mishap.
Other suspicious packages are being investigated by police at locations throughout the capital, the iTV network in Thailand has reported. The New Year's countdown at CentralWorld was held at around 9:00 p.m. with police and Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayothin then urging the thousands of gathered revelers to "go home and stay in peace."
The attacks are unprecedented in Bangkok. However, Thailand has had a turbulent year, with a coup d'état on September 19 in which the military ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Since then, there have been a number of schools burnt by suspected Thaksin sympathizers in various parts of the country.
There is also the ongoing violence by Muslim separatists in the South Thailand insurgency, which has left 1,900 people dead since 2004.
It was not immediately clear if the bombings had anything to do with the coup or the southern insurgency.
Sources
- Thai News Agency "Festivities off as bombs disrupt Bangkok; two dead, 25 injured". MCOT, December 31, 2006
- "Bomb attacks reported in Bangkok". Bangkok Post, December 31, 2006
- "Four bombs go off in Bangkok". The Nation (Thailand), December 31, 2006
- "Two Die In Bangkok Bombs". Sky News, December 31, 2006
- "Bangkok explosions leave two dead". BBC News, December 31, 2006
 Share this: |
 |
This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators. Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections. Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age. |
