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Bangkok bomb: Thai police arrest man over Erawan blast | Bangkok bomb: Thai police arrest man over Erawan blast |
(35 minutes later) | |
Police in Bangkok say they have arrested a man in connection with a bomb that killed 20 people in the Thai capital nearly two weeks ago. | Police in Bangkok say they have arrested a man in connection with a bomb that killed 20 people in the Thai capital nearly two weeks ago. |
Officers raided an apartment used by the man in northern Bangkok on Saturday and found possible bomb-making materials, a police spokesman said. | Officers raided an apartment used by the man in northern Bangkok on Saturday and found possible bomb-making materials, a police spokesman said. |
The suspect "looks like the one we are looking for", said the spokesman, Prawut Thavornsiri. | The suspect "looks like the one we are looking for", said the spokesman, Prawut Thavornsiri. |
The bomb tore through the city's crowded Erawan Shrine on 17 August. | The bomb tore through the city's crowded Erawan Shrine on 17 August. |
Mr Thawornsiri said that the arrested man is a foreigner but refused to say whether he is Turkish, as reported by some Bangkok media. | |
Bomb-making kit | |
"We have detained one person," deputy national police chief General Chaktip Chaijinda told reporters in a live TV broadcast. | |
"We have found components of bomb-making materials in his apartment and I am confident that he is likely involved with the bomb attack," he said. | |
Police had been searching for a prime suspect who was seen on CCTV footage leaving a backpack at the shrine shortly before the blast. | |
A photofit image was released showing the suspect with dark hair and glasses. | |
General Chaktip said it was "not yet clear" whether the man arrested on Saturday is the same as the man in the CCTV images. | |
"We found dozens of passports inside his room. We have to check which nationalities they belong to," he said in the broadcast. | |
Police said at the time they suspected the attack had been planned a month or more in advance and involved at least 10 people, but said a connection to international terrorism was unlikely. | |
A reward of one million baht ($28,000; £17,950) was offered for information but it is not known whether this played a part in Saturday's arrest. | A reward of one million baht ($28,000; £17,950) was offered for information but it is not known whether this played a part in Saturday's arrest. |