Bangkok bombing: death toll rises to 22, 123 others wounded

The bomb attack near the Erawan shrine in Thailand’s Bangkok capital on August 17 killed 22 people and injured 123 others, local police said on August 18.

Five of the deceased were Thai nationals while three came from China, two from Hong Kong (China), two from Malaysia and one from Singapore. The other victims have yet to be identified.

The attack aimed to kill as many as possible, given the Erawan shrine is at its most crowded from around 6 to 7 pm, police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri said.

Thais made up the largest number of the wounded with 42, followed by 28 Chinese. The injured also included those from Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Maldives, Oman, the Philippines and Singapore.

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha condemned the blast as the worst ever attack on the country, adding that authorities were looking for a suspect seen in CCTV footage near the blast site.

The bombing, on the evening of August 17, occurred at an intersection near the Hindu shrine in central Bangkok. Police also found two other bombs at the site.

On August 18, Thailand's currency, the baht, slumped to a six-year low over concerns an unprecedented attack in the capital could hit the vital tourism sector.

Andrew Stotz, CEO of Bangkok-based Stotz Investment Research, said the bombing occurred during the high tourism season, meaning it could be particularly damaging to the sector which accounts for 8.5 percent of Thailand’s GDP.

The attack came after Thailand's economy slowed in the second quarter with GDP growing by 2.8 percent compared to a year earlier. The country also downgraded its 2015 growth forecast to 2.7-3.2 percent from 3.0-4.0 percent.-VNA