Earlier police have confirmed 12 people had been killed and dozens sustained injuries in the blast.
วงจรปิดจับภาพวินาทีแสงเพลิงจากเหตุระเบิด แยกราชประสงค์ ประชาชนแตกฮือวิ่งหนีอลม่าน
Posted by กลุ่มคนอาสา กู้ชีพ กู้ภัย Thailand on Monday, 17 August 2015
According to bangkokbiznews.com, several cars were set ablaze by the blast, which took place near the Erawan Shrine in the city center, a popular tourist attraction.
PHOTOS: EOD are now on scene of explosion near Erawan Shrine at Ratchaprasong in Central #Bangkok — @RichardBarrow pic.twitter.com/GlnF29hNTq
— Conflict News (@rConflictNews) August 17, 2015
The explosion was caused by a bomb. Police consider the explosion a terrorist attack.
Body parts were scattered across the street after the bomb went off, local residents report.
7:22pm Reports of a death are unverified. Nor do we know source of explosion — RT @BOICE_ELF: pic.twitter.com/HDE7XSqLLr #Bangkok
— Richard Barrow (@RichardBarrow) August 17, 2015
Police said a bomb squad was attempting to deactivate two unexploded bombs that had been found at the site.
Tonight in #Bangkok: One bomb exploded & then two more unexploded bombs found nearby — RT @jin_nation: ระเบิดแล้ว 1 ลูก เจออีก 2 ลูก
— Richard Barrow (@RichardBarrow) 17 августа 2015
Thailand's Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwong said that the terrorist attack had been aimed at foreigners to damage the country's tourism.
All 438 schools under the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration will be closed on Tuesday due to security concerns, government said.