Blast at Bangkok religious shrine kills at least 19

BANGKOK — A bomb placed inside a Bangkok religious shrine frequented by tourists exploded Monday evening, killing at least 19 people, hurling body parts onto the pavement, shattering building windows and creating panic in one of the city’s most popular districts.

At least 123 people were reported wounded in what Thailand’s top police official and others called a vicious act meant to target helpless civilians.

The explosion came at a particularly busy time of day at the Erawan Shrine, an important tourist attraction in Bangkok’s main shopping area.

Police discovered at least two additional devices they suspected were unexploded bombs inside the shrine and said other bombs may have been placed in the area, yelling at bystanders: Get out!

The Bangkok Post reported on its website that the shrine bomb, apparently placed just inside the fenced Erawan compound, detonated at 6:55 p.m. The scale of the explosion set vehicles in the adjacent intersection ablaze and bowed the iron fence of the shrine outward.

Some news accounts said an explosive device had detonated on the flaming motorcycle, but the head of Thailand’s national police said it “was not a car bomb.”