Summary

  • A bomb blast has struck central Bangkok

  • The explosion took place close to a popular shrine

  • At least 16 people have died with dozens injured

  • All times BST (one hour ahead of GMT)

Live Reporting

Thom Poole and Emma Atkinson

  1. 'Huge impact'

    Leify Porter who's from Australia, witnessed the explosion:     

    We were on the sky bridge, where everyone walks to cross over a road. It was directly above where the explosion went off, and we heard a huge bang, there was flames, there was smoke, debris flying everywhere, everyone was running, it was quite chaotic. We saw cars on fire, and a lot of people seriously injured and deceased. We all, sort of, dropped to the ground, it was a huge impact. My ears are still ringing and I have a huge headache. Being on a sky bridge, everything shook beneath us, it was quite intense.

  2. #PrayforBangkok

    Our colleagues at BBC Trending tweet...

  3. US responds to the blast

    The US Charge d'affaires in Thailand tweets:

  4. 'We were just so lucky'

    Mairead Campbell is a BBC employee who is on holiday in Bangkok and visited the Erawan Shrine on Saturday.

    Our hotel is very, very close to where the bomb went off. We heard a bang and went down to reception, where we were told not to leave. We followed that advice - but an hour or two later we nipped outside. The scene was cordoned off and emergency people were still there. I'd describe the scene as chaotic. We visited the shrine on Saturday. It's the most central in Bangkok and hugely popular. Up until now I've felt very safe. We were only supposed to be staying in Bangkok for two days but extended our stay because we loved it so much. We were just so lucky we stayed in the hotel for an afternoon nap rather than go outside.

  5. Travel advice

    The UK Foreign Office says it is not advising against travel to Bangkok but it has updated its advice

  6. Mandarin translators needed

    The BBC's Hong Kong correspondent tweets:

  7. 'Burnt rubber smell'

    Krishna Punjali was visiting his sister in Bangkok when he heard the explosion.

    I was driving home and I was about 50 metres from the intersection. At that point there was a loud bang. It sounded as if it lightening had struck, but I looked up and I saw no clouds. After some time I could hear sirens and saw smoke. I rolled down my window and could smell burned rubber. There were lots of police and ambulances and I could see fire in the background. It was a big shock.

  8. 'Total shock'

    The BBC's James Sales was in the Bangkok bureau when the explosion happened.

    The windows didn't shatter but we knew it was a big bomb nearby. I managed to get a trauma pack first aid kit from the office. I saw at least nine people who looked like they had died. I tried to do CPR on one man in his 40s but he didn't make it. There were people with such horrific injuries.

  9. 'Graphic scene'

    One bystander, Alessandro Ursic, described the scene near the site of the initial blast.

    When I arrived they had already cleared the bodies from the ground outside the Erawan shrine but there were and there are still pieces of human flesh strewn around the intersection; it's really graphic.

  10. 'Total chaos'

    Richard Sri-kureja was walking to a mall next to the shrine when he heard a huge blast.

    There was total chaos. They blocked off the area, everyone was running in totally different directions. About five minutes later police and ambulances rushed to the scene. I counted around 20 ambulances. That area is usually very, very crowded as it's in the middle of the city and it's usually very packed. A local hotel is full of injured patients. I saw a family that was bleeding badly. Everyone was trying to help as much as they could. Other people were taking photos.

  11. Ratchaprasong detonation

    Saiyai Sakawee tweeted this picture from the Ratchaprasong area

  12. 'Second bomb'

    The Bangkok post reports on another detonation close to the first blast.