黑料社

New surveillance video offers possible Bangkok bombing clue

This Aug. 17, 2015, combination of annotated images, released by Royal Thai Police spokesman Lt. Gen. Prawut Thavornsiri shows the movements of a man wearing a yellow T-shirt riding in a tuk-tuk (three wheeled motorized taxi) and on the back of a motorcycle near the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, Thailand. 聽Prawut said he believes a man in a yellow T-shirt caused the blast that killed a number of people at a shrine in downtown Bangkok on Monday night.  (Royal Thai Police via AP)

This Aug. 17 combination of annotated images, released by Royal Thai Police spokesperson Lt. Gen. Prawut Thavornsiri, shows the movements of a man wearing a yellow T-shirt riding in a tuk-tuk (three wheeled motorized taxi) and on the back of a motorcycle near the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, Thailand. 聽Prawut said he believes a man in a yellow T-shirt caused the blast that killed a number of people at a shrine in downtown Bangkok on Monday night. AP

BANGKOK鈥擭ew surveillance video has surfaced offering a possible clue to the bombing in central Bangkok that killed 20 people, Thai authorities said Saturday.

Col. Winthai Suvaree, a spokesperson for Thailand鈥檚 ruling junta, also said closed circuit television was used to learn the transportation route the suspected bomber took to and from the site of Monday evening鈥檚 rush-hour attack. He said that a police sketch of the suspect had been distributed to border posts.

Surveillance video leaked to Thai media shows a man in a blue shirt placing a bag on a riverside walkway, then kicking it into the water on Monday night shortly after the explosion several kilometers away at the Erawan Shrine. About 18 hours later, at 1 p.m. Tuesday, an explosion took place at the same spot near a busy pier, causing no casualties.

Police spokesperson Prawuth Thawornsiri said Saturday that police were seeking the man for questioning, even though it remains unclear whether his actions had anything to do with either explosion. Asked if the man was a suspect, he said he was 鈥渕ore like a witness.鈥

鈥淭he thing he kicked in the water might just be garbage. We don鈥檛 know yet,鈥 he said. Asked if the man in the video was linked to the bombing at the Erawan Shrine, he said police had not yet drawn that conclusion and there was no clear relationship.

Much of the police investigation, and the media frenzy surrounding it, has been fueled by closed circuit television footage, often too blurry to distinctly identify its subjects.

The one suspect for whom an arrest warrant has been issued was seen leaving a backpack behind at the spot where the bomb went off at the shrine minutes after he departed. Two men who stood nearby him looked suspiciously like confederates, but made themselves known to police who have more of less cleared them of any responsibility. A woman in a black shirt also seen standing nearby is being sought.

Police have released a sketch of the suspect鈥攄epicting him with eyeglasses and bushy, black hair鈥攁nd offered a reward that on Friday was raised to 3 million baht ($85,000). On a police arrest warrant he is described as a 鈥渇oreign man,鈥 although a military spokesperson said a connection to international terrorism seemed unlikely.

After initially being criticized for sending confusing messages, authorities have appeared more guarded in their statements. Military spokesperson Winthai said on television Friday that the police were making 鈥渕uch progress,鈥 but that he could not disclose any details. On Saturday, he said information would be made public once it was no longer needed to be kept secret as part of the investigation.

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