Grenade explodes outside shopping mall in Thai capital, wounding 1 and rattling nerves

Grenade explodes by Thai shopping mall; 1 wounded

BANGKOK — A grenade exploded near a Bangkok shopping mall early Friday, injuring one person and rattling the Thai capital less than a week after a similar blast left a bystander dead and several more hospitalized.

Authorities have declined to speculate if the explosions are linked to the country’s ongoing political turbulence.

The latest grenade was hidden in a garbage bag and placed alongside other trash bags in front of a residential building opposite the King Power duty-free shopping center in the Din Daeng neighborhood of Bangkok, said police Capt. Nitti Niruttiwat. It exploded at 1:30 a.m. and seriously injured a bystander, he said.

“The bomb squad found the safety pin of a grenade amid the debris at the crime scene and the area was reeking with petrol,” he told The Associated Press, adding that investigators had not yet determined how the blast was triggered.

On Sunday, a grenade exploded near a bus stop in another part of downtown Bangkok, killing one person and wounding 10.

No one has claimed responsibility for either blast.

Thailand has been wracked by political turmoil for the past four years, with tensions coming to a head in April and May when some 90 people were killed and more than 1,400 were injured during two months of protests in central Bangkok. The protesters were demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and only cleared the streets when the army moved in on May 19.

During the protests, Abhisit’s government imposed a state of emergency, which was lifted Thursday in six provinces but kept in place in Bangkok and nine other provinces.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said Thursday that authorities considered the security situation in the remaining provinces to be tense and “actions that signaled some danger” persisted.

Members of the opposition have accused the government of using the state of emergency to persecute political opponents and have speculated that the grenade attacks could be the work of those wanting the emergency powers extended.