.The explosion took place in the Rachaprasong district in the heart of the Thai capital during the evening rush hour
- .Police say up to 27 people including four foreigners were killed in the blast close to the popular Erawan Shrine
- .No one has claimed responsibility for the blast but government bosses say attackers deliberately targeted tourists
- .Police have reportedly detonated another bomb and are said to be hunting two or three further devices in the area
- .WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
At least 27 are dead and dozens more have been injured after a bomb on a motorbike exploded just outside a Hindu shrine in Bangkok today.
The explosion took place in the popular Rachaprasong district in the heart of the Thai capital at around 7pm, in an area packed with tourists.
Four foreigners are believed to be among the dead after an attack the Thai government says was designed to damage the country's vital tourist industry.
'It was a TNT bomb... the people who did it targeted foreigners and to damage tourism and the economy,' a government spokesman said.
Many victims were probably visiting the Erawan Shrine or several shopping centres in the area when the attack took place. Security video showed a powerful flash as the bomb exploded.
Carnage: Scorched motorbikes where at least 27 are dead and another 80 are injured after a huge explosion in Bangkok during rush hour today
Witnesses said victims were 'blown to pieces' after the explosion in one of the Thai capital's most popular tourist hotspots
Four foreigners are believed to be among the dead after an attack the Thai government says was designed to damage the country's vital tourist industry
Emergency: The blast rocked the popular Rachaprasong district in the heart of the Thai capital during rush hour
There are reports this afternoon that as many as 27 have been killed and 80 are injured and that police are hunting two more explosive devices. Officers, who have sealed off the scene, are said to have already found a second bomb found nearby.
Witnesses said victims were 'blown to pieces' after the explosion in the Chidlom district of the Thai capital.
A Reuters witness at the scene said she saw pieces of human flesh near the blast site, and a soldier later told onlookers to move back, saying they were checking for a second bomb.
The bomb blast is believed to have claimed the lives of a number of foreign tourists while dozens more people suffered injuries
Probe: Police confirmed the explosion, near a shrine at a major Bangkok road, was from a bomb but no one has yet claimed responsibility for the terror attack.
Government bosses say as many as 27 people are feared dead and dozens more have been injured after the motorbike bomb today
Police have revealed that the explosion was the result of a bomb on a motorbike. A Thai soldier is pictured surveying the damage
'We are now looking for another two to three bombs, as we have found one suspicious object,' national police chief Prawut Thawornsiri told Reuters.
'There could be another explosion, so we have blocked off the crime scene and are asking bystanders to move back.'
Authorities have since stepped up security checks at some major city intersections and in tourist areas.
The Erawan shrine, on a busy corner near top hotels, shopping centres and offices, is a major tourist attraction, especially for visitors from East Asia. Many ordinary Thais also worship there.
Most of the injured were tourists from China and Taiwan, local media said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Thailand's Defense Minister said the bomb was designed to 'destroy the economy and tourism' of the country and that attackers deliberately targeted tourists
Investigation: Officials closed off an intersection after the explosion which shook the centre of Bangkok during the evening rush hour
Sealed off: Thai soldiers and police stand guard after a bomb exploded outside a religious shrine in central Bangkok
Thai forces are fighting a low-level Muslim insurgency in the predominantly Buddhist country's south, although those rebels have rarely launched attacks outside their ethnic Malay heartland.
'The perpetrators intended to destroy the economy and tourism because the incident occurred in the heart of the tourism district,' Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told Reuters.
The government would set up a 'war room' to coordinate the response to the blast, the Nation television channel quoted Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha as saying.
Two people from China and one from the Philippines were among the dead, a tourist police officer said. Domestic media said that of the 27 people killed, 10 of them were men and 17 women.
'It was like a meat market,' said Marko Cunningham, a New Zealand paramedic working with a Bangkok ambulance service, who said the blast had left a (6ft) crater.
Police investigate the scene after the explosion. A spokesman said they were hunting two or three more devices
Images captured by Mongkol Nunthalikitkun shortly after the explosion show flames burning next to a motorbike lying on the road
Explosive Ordnance Disposal officers enter the Erawan Shrine. The tourist hotspot is on a busy corner near top hotels, shopping centres, offices and a hospital
A policeman walks past bodies covered in white sheets around the Erawan Shrine. Most of the injured were tourists from China and Taiwan, local media said
Blood is seen near a victim's shoe, as security forces and emergency workers gather at the scene of the blast. The government is due to set up a 'war room' to coordinate the response to the blast
The Erawan shrine, on a busy corner near top hotels, shopping centres, offices and a hospital, is a major tourist attraction, especially for visitors from East Asia (file picture)
'There were bodies everywhere. Some were shredded. There were legs where heads were supposed to be. It was horrific,' Cunningham said, adding that people several hundred metres away had been injured.
While initial suspicion might fall on Muslim separatists in the south, Thailand has been riven for a decade by an intense and sometimes violent struggle for power between political factions in Bangkok.
Occasional small blasts have been blamed on one side or the other. Two pipe bombs exploded outside a luxury shopping mall in the same area in February, but caused little damage.
Police said that attack was aimed at raising tension when the city was under martial law. The army has ruled Thailand since May 2014, when it ousted an elected government after months of at times violent anti-government protests.
The shrine intersection was the site of months of anti-government protests in 2010 by supporters of ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Dozens were killed in a military crackdown and a shopping centre was set ablaze.
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