Bangkok shrine bombing update: Police search for suspect who left backpack at site
Two days after the rush-hour bombing at a shrine that has long been popular with tourists who visit Bangkok left 22 people dead and many others wounded, authorities continue to search for a suspect who left his backpack at the site.
Reports say there has been no claims about the incident at the Erawan Shrine, and police have not ruled out anything or anyone. On the other hand, a CCTV video has been released wherein a man in a yellow shirt was seen to leave a backpack at the shrine before the explosion happened.
According to CNN, Thai police are "very sure" that the man in yellow is the bomber. Meanwhile, national police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang said earlier that the authorities have been warned about possible attacks, but they just weren't sure when or where the attacks will occur.
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Still images of the suspect have been released for the public to see, while the new footages show that the suspect is carefully removing the backpack inside the shrine, and after a few seconds of seemingly rummaging through a blue plastic or cloth bag, the suspect left the scene.
Jonathan Head of BBC Bangkok said the spot where the suspect had been sitting was "precisely" where the explosive went off a few minutes after the guy left the area.
Thai Government spokesman Maj. Gen. Weerachon Sukhontapatipak said local authorities were "quite close" to getting to the bottom of the crime as they get closer to identifying the suspect, but other leads were also being pursued to make sure every connection is uncovered.
Sukhontapatipak also noted that the suspect "did not appear to be Thai," and his characteristics and movements as shown in the footages were "quite different" from the bombings initiated by southern Thai insurgents.
Another attack was made on Tuesday at a pier in Bangkok where an explosive was thrown at a pier, fortunately no one was reported to have been hurt.
Sukhontapatipak said both of the explosives were "TNT bombs," adding that "There's a pattern, but we have not yet found links."
