A thunderous sound. A searing bright light. And then, dead bodies to her right and left.
This was how Madam Betty Ong described the moments after the bombing at the Erawan Shrine in the heart of central Bangkok on Monday evening.
She was at one corner of the Shrine when the bomb went off.
When she came to her senses, the path in front of her was strewn with broken glass.
People were screaming and those who could move scrambled to get away.
The windows of the neighbouring buildings had shattered and there were dead bodies everywhere.
Speaking to the The New Paper over the phone from Hua Chiew Hospital in Bangkok, Mdm Ong, 70, said: “At that instant, it didn’t strike me as a bomb or anything. I thought somebody was doing some gas lighting. That was the impression I got. It was a very bright spark.”
The retiree added: “One child just beside me was not moving already. There was no blood, but he was not moving at all.”
Madam Ong’s brother told her his leg was broken.
When her sister came by, there were pieces of flesh on her body.
At least 20 people, including a Singaporean woman, were killed in the blast at about 7pm local time on Monday.
More than 120 were injured.
Source: www.tnp.sg
