Bangkok bombing: Thai police arrest foreign man over shrine blast that killed 20 people

Arrest: Police held the unnamed man at an apartment on the outskirts of Bangkok
EPA
Sebastian Mann29 August 2015

Thai police have arrested a foreign man in their investigation into the bombing at a shrine in central Bangkok that left 20 people dead.

More than 120 were injured in the blast earlier this month, with London student Vivian Chan among those killed.

Today deputy police chief Chakthip Chaijinda said a suspect had been held at his apartment on the outskirts of Bangkok, where police also seized bomb-making equipment.

National police spokesman Prawut Thawornsiri said that the arrested person is a foreigner. He was arrested holding a forced Turkish passport but could be a national of another country.

He is one of a number of people police wish to speak to in connection with the bombing.

The blast at the Erawan Shrine on August 17 was unprecedented in the Thai capital, where smaller bombs have been employed in domestic political violence over the past decade, but not in an effort to cause large-scale casualties.

The shrine is a popular tourist destination, particularly with Chinese visitors, who represent an important segment of the lucrative tourist market. At least six of the dead were from China and Hong Kong. It is located in a neighbourhood full of upmarket shopping malls and five-star hotels.

Soon after the bombing, police released an artist's sketch of a man seen in a security camera video leaving a backpack at a bench then walking away from the open-air shrine. A separate camera showed the man, wearing a yellow T-shirt, on the back of a motorcycle taxi leaving the site.

Additional reporting by AP

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