Thai police not yet identify Erawan shrine bomber

Thailand's national police chief said on September 24 it is premature to conclude that a foreign suspect detained over the deadly bombing in Bangkok in August is really the bomber, despite local media reports that the suspect recently confessed to being the yellow-shirted man seen in security footage at the blast site.

Somyot Pumpanmuang told reporters that he did not dare to decisively confirm if Adem Karadak was the yellow-shirted man because today he spoke different things during different interrogations.

He said it is important for investigators to cross-check the testimony of suspects and witnesses with other available evidence.

Karadak was arrested in August in an apartment in northern Bangkok where security officials seized bomb-making materials.

Karadak's nationality remains uncertain. Officers said they had been able to communicate with him in English, Arabic and Turkish.

Earlier, a police spokesman confirmed that DNA samples collected from articles of evidence believed to have belonged to the bomber were found to not match DNA samples taken from Karadak and another key suspect, a Chinese Uighur man named Meiraili Yusufu.

So far no group has claimed responsibility for the bombing at the Erawan shrine that killed 20 people and injured more than 100.

Thai courts have issued arrest warrants for 15 people, including a Thai woman, four Turkish men, two Chinese men, one Pakistani man and five foreign men whose nationalities have not been identified.-VNA