Bomb blasts hit Bangkok, at least 5 dead, 100 injured

BANGKOK, April 22 (Xinhua) -- At least five people died and about 100 others were injured in a series of bomb blasts that hit Bangkok's main financial district of Silom on Thursday night, local media reported.

"Red-shirt"anti-government protesters gather after an explosion on Silom Road in  the financial district of central Bangkok,capital of Thailand,April 22,2010 0.At  least five people died and some 100 others were injured in a series of bomb blasts  that hit Bangkok's main financial district of Silom on Thursday night,media sources said.(Xinhua/Shi Xianzhen)

Earlier, TPBS TV said a woman died after she was rushed to Chulalongkorn Hospital.

Unidentified gunmen fired M-79 grenades from the hospital's fifth floor, witness said.

The Headquarters of Bangkok Bank, Thailand's largest commercial bank, was hit by a bomb, leaving more than 20 injured, local media reported.

The blast occurred around 09:00 p.m., following three explosions that hit the third floor of Sala Daeng skytrain station, the sky walk and Dusit Thani hotel, leaving at least 20 injured within less than an hour.

After that, ambulances siren were frequently heard.

Sansern Kaewkamnerd, spokesman for the Center for the Resolutions of Emergency Situations or CRES confirmed that the explosions were caused by M-79 grenades.

The blasts occurred just minutes after 08:00 p.m., 500 meters from where the multicolored people were confronting with the "red- shirts" protesters at the Sala Daeng Intersection, the Nation news group said.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has summoned a urgent security meeting soon after the explosions.