Page 65 - KPA 18 AUG 2015
P. 65
WORLD NEWS 9
Tuesday 18 August 2015
At Press Time:
Rush-hour Bangkok bombing at shrine kills 18, hurts 117
JERRY HARMER right next to the shrine. “The An emergency worker in national police chief Somy- At least 18 people were
A. NATTASUDA whole building just shook. an ambulance, frantically ot Poompummuang. “They confirmed dead and 117
Associated Press My four students were hys- pounding the chest of a aim to kill because every- injured, according to the
BANGKOK (AP) — A bomb terical.” victim. one knows that at 7 p.m. Narinthorn emergency
exploded Monday within Video shortly after the blast No one immediately the shrine is crowded with medical rescue center. The
a central Bangkok shrine dead included Chinese
that is among the city’s Police investigate the scene after an explosion in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, Aug. 17, 2015.A and a Filipino, Somyot said.
most popular tourist spots, large explosion rocked a central Bangkok intersection during the evening rush hour, killing a As a single, devastat-
killing at least 18 people number of people and injuring others, police said. ing blow to this Southeast
and injuring more than 100 Asian metropolis, Monday’s
across a hectic intersection (AP Photo/Mark Baker) bombing has no equal in
surrounded by five-star ho- recent history, though Thai-
tels and upscale shopping depicts a scene of shock claimed responsibility for Thais and foreigners. Plant- land is no stranger to violent
malls. and desperation: people the bombing. ing a bomb there means attacks. A more-than-de-
With a powerful flash running for their lives and “Those who have planted they want to see a lot of cade-long insurgency by
caught on security video crying amid the debris. this bomb are cruel,” said dead people.” southern Muslim separatists
and a boom heard blocks has left more than 5,000
away, the blast from the dead far from the capi-
improvised explosive de- tal. In Bangkok, politically
vice scattered body parts charged riots centered on
across Rachaprasong inter- this very intersection in 2010
section, spattered blood, killed more than 90 over
blasted windows and two months.
burned motorbikes to the Police said the bomb was
metal. It exploded during made with a pipe wrapped
evening rush hour as the in cloth. Police said it was
area was filled with tourists, too soon to determine the
office workers and shop- motive.
pers. “We still don’t know for
“Suddenly there was a big sure who did this and
boom, and the whole room why,” Deputy Prime Minis-
just shook, like someone ter Prawit Wongsuwon told
dropped a wrecking ball reporters. “We are not sure
on top of our ceiling,” said if it is politically motivated,
Pim Niyomwan, an English but they aim to harm our
instructor working on the economy and we will hunt
eighth floor of the building them down.”q
Seoul:
North Korea resumes loudspeaker broadcasts amid tension
HYUNG-JIN KIM Last week, South Korea on condition of anonym- stopped the practice in spokesman John Kirby said
Associated Press blamed the North for ity because of department 2004 as part of their efforts the “routine” exercises
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) land mine explosions that rules. to ease animosities. Other were proceeding normally.
— The rival Koreas have re- maimed two South Korean The official gave no further practices, including leaflet- “We look forward to com-
sumed cross-border propa- soldiers and resumed pro- details. But South Korean ing and the operation of pleting the exercises, as we
ganda warfare as North Ko- paganda broadcasts for public broadcaster KBS, cit- frontline billboards, remain always do. This is all about
rea on Monday matched the first time in 11 years in ing an unidentified military suspended, according to proving alliance capabil-
South Korea’s loudspeaker retaliation. North Korea has official, reported that the Seoul officials. ity,” he told reporters in
campaign with broadcasts denied the accusations North Korean broadcasts North Korea’s action also Washington.
of its own that reportedly and threatened to launch mainly included criticism of came as Seoul and Wash- South Korea has said the
included criticism of Seoul strikes on South Korean South Korea and praises for ington launched annual two soldiers wounded from
and praises for Pyongyang. loudspeakers. North Korea’s political sys- military drills that Pyong- the mine explosion were
The mutual propaganda North Korea began its own tem. yang calls an invasion on a routine patrol at the
attacks mark a further de- loudspeaker broadcasts The North’s broadcasts rehearsal. South Korean southern part of the Demili-
terioration of relations be- Monday on the eastern mark the restoration of and U.S. officials have said tarized Zone that separates
tween the Koreas, who part of the border, accord- inter-Korean propaganda that the drills are purely de- the two Koreas. One of the
haven’t engaged in any se- ing a South Korean Defense warfare along the bor- fensive in nature. soldiers lost both legs, while
rious talks in recent months. Ministry official who spoke der after the two Koreas U.S. State Department the other lost one leg.q
