Forensic police inspected the site of a bomb attack near a bus station outside a shopping mall in Bangkok yesterday.
(Chaiwat Subprasom/ Reuters)
Bomb kills 1, wounds 10 after Thai vote
Forensic police inspected the site of a bomb attack near a bus station outside a shopping mall in Bangkok yesterday.
(Chaiwat Subprasom/ Reuters)
BANGKOK — A bomb at a bus stop in downtown Bangkok killed one person and wounded 10 others yesterday shortly after polls closed in a parliamentary election that pitted a government candidate against a jailed leader of recent mass protests in the Thai capital.
Police Major General Anuchai Lekbamroong, at the site of the explosion, declined to speculate whether the bombing was related to Thailand’s continued political turbulence following the street demonstrations that paralyzed much of the capital for weeks.
The bomb wounded 10 Thais and one woman from Myanmar, all of whom were hospitalized, according to the government’s Erawan Center, which accounts for casualties in such incidents.
A 51-year-old Thai man later died during an operation at the Police Hospital, according to a nurse.
According to unofficial results, the government candidate scored a narrow victory over a contender being held in jail on terrorism charges. Panich Vikitsreth, a vice minister for foreign affairs, garnered about 54 percent of the vote over rival Kokaew Pikulthong, an imprisoned Red Shirt leader.
The election was seen as a test of strength for the Red Shirt movement, which from March to May staged demonstrations that were put down with lethal force. The protesters had demanded that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva dissolve Parliament and call a general election.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
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