Several foreigners among 27 dead in Thai shrine blast

Update: According to media reports, some Singaporeans have been injured in the explosion. 

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong posted a message on Facebook at around midnight, indicating that Singaporeans were among the injured. 

He wrote: "My thoughts are with all those affected by the explosion outside the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok this evening. The Thai authorities are investigating.

"Some Singaporeans have been injured in the explosion. Our Bangkok Mission staff have met them, and are rendering consular assistance. If you are in Bangkok, please register your details and whereabouts with our embassy staff at 66-(81) 844-3580."

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has condemned the attack, stating that they are rendering consular assistance to affected Singaporeans and contacting registered Singaporeans based in Bangkok.

MFA also urged Singaporeans in Bangkok to avoid the vicinity of the explosion and to monitor local news. It also said Singaporeans should contact the Singapore Embassy if they need urgent assistance.

BANGKOK - Several foreigners were among the 27 people killed on Monday when a bomb planted on a motorcycle exploded outside a shrine in the Thai capital, media said.

The Nation television said 27 had been killed in the blast at the Erawan Hindu shrine, and other media said at least three foreigners were among them. Most of the injured were tourists from China and Taiwan, media said.

The Erawan shrine, on a busy corner near top hotels, shopping centres, offices and a hospital, is a major attraction, especially for visitors from East Asia, including China. Many ordinary Thais also worship there.

Two people from China and one from the Philippines were among the dead, a tourist police officer said. Domestic media said 27 people had been killed, 10 of them men and 17 women.

Police said 78 people were wounded. "It was like a meat market," said Marko Cunningham, a New Zealand paramedic working with a Bangkok ambulance service, who said the blast had left a two-metre-wide (6-foot-) crater.

"There were bodies everywhere. Some were shredded. There were legs where heads were supposed to be. It was horrific,"Cunningham said, adding that people several hundred metres away had been injured.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast.

"The perpetrators intended to destroy the economy and tourism, because the incident occurred in the heart of the tourism district," Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told Reuters.