At least 27 people were killed and scores more wounded in an explosion Monday near a Hindu shrine in central Bangkok, marking the worst bombing in the Thai capital in more than a decade.
Thai media report four foreigners are among the dead.
The explosion around 7:00 p.m. local time hit near the commercial Ratchaprasong intersection, which draws in tourists and shoppers with its five-star hotels and upscale stores.
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VOA Bangkok Correspondent Steve Herman talks to Pete Heinlein about the bomb blast
"We have seen six bodies under sheets (near) the Erawan shrine," VOA correspondent Steve Herman said from the scene. One person was taken away in an ambulance.
"There were body parts scattered throughout the intersection, most of those placed under white pieces of paper," Herman said. "There's no doubt if someone wanted to cause mayhem and target Thailand's tourism industry, this would have been the ideal spot."
At that time of the evening, there would be hundreds of people inside that shrine, Herman said.
Paramedics treat one of the people injured by a bomb blast in central Bangkok, Thailand, Aug. 17, 2015. (Photo: Zinlet Aung for VOA)
Surveilance cameras caught the moment of the explosion. Other video from the scene shows body parts strewn on the street and atop nearby cars.
WATCH: Surveillance video footage of Thai blast
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Surveillance Cameras Catch Moment of Thai Blast
A man who identified himself as a police officer at the site said a bomb caused the explosion, not a car crash as some media reports indicated.
Scene of bomb blast in central Bangkok, Aug. 17, 2015. (Photo: Zinlet Aung for VOA)
A view of the scene of the bomb blast in central Bangkok, Thailand, Aug. 17, 2015. (Photo: Zinlet Aung for VOA)