Bomb kills 2, injures 22 in Bangkok

A bomb killed two people and wounded at least 22 in a busy shopping district in the Thai capital yesterday.

The bomb went off near one of the few large protest sites remaining, leaving a trail of blood and sandals on the streets near Central World shopping mall.

Three children suffered serious head injuries, said Erawan Medical Center, which monitors Bangkok hospitals.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the bomb, which went off hours after supporters of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra promised to get tough with demonstrators paralysing parts of the city.

The crisis pits mostly middle-class anti-government protesters from Bangkok and the south against supporters of the PM from the rural north and northeast of the country. Both sides have blamed the other for instigating violence.