BANGKOK — Police are sealing off the scene of a deadly blast near a popular Hindu shrine in central Bangkok because a bomb in the area remains active and needs to be defused, police at the scene told CNN on Monday.
The current death toll is 18.
Bomb squad members in blast suits responded to the area, and an officer announced over a loudspeaker, “The situation is still not safe. Please all stay back. There might be another bomb in the area.”
Officials provided no immediate information on casualties and no bodies were visible, but there were five ambulances in the area. The Bangkok Post reported several casualties.
The blast, which occurred about 7 p.m. local time near the Erawan Shrine, a Hindu place of worship and tourist attraction, destroyed several motorcycles.
Steve Herman, a correspondent and bureau chief for Voice of America, said he thought it was thunder when the explosion first ripped through central Bangkok.
He saw six bodies under sheets inside the shrine and one outside of it, he told CNN.