Flower vase linked to military hospital explosion

JaKaRTa: An unidentified bomber attached a green vase with artificial flowers to a wall in the reception room of Phramongkutklao Hospital before a homemade bomb exploded there, a police source said.

Police investigators of the Metropolitan Police Bureau have obtained a picture of a vase that was taken just 10 minutes before the explosion, the source added.

The picture shows the green vase attached to the wall while three people wait on seats.

The reception room is a VIP room where military officials and retired officers wait to receive medicine.

The bomb exploded at 10.40am on Monday, injuring 25 people. The blast follows another that wounded two people at the National Theatre last week.

The police source said the attacker apparently passed among patients to put up the vase.

Staff of the hospital said they did not see the vase earlier.

Police are still checking CCTV footage to try and isolate the attacker, while the ruling junta said yesterday that security of the country was being reviewed.

Junta spokesman Col Winthai Suvaree told reporters: “We have to determine important points like government buildings, or populated areas.

“They have to adjust whatever needs to be adjusted,” he said.

Soldiers patrolled the hospital grounds today as an investigation continued.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the explosion or if it was linked to the anniversary of the 2014 military coup, which overthrew a democratically elected government amid sometimes violent street protests staged by its opponents and supporters.

Army chief Gen Chalermchai Sittisart said Monday that it appeared that the explosion and two earlier blasts in recent weeks used similar explosive materials.

“All of this was conducted with the goal of creating disorder to the administrative work of the government and NCPO,” he said, referring to the National Council for Peace and Order, the official name of the ruling junta.