Bangkok: Grenade explodes near mall, the second in a week

BANGKOK (AP) - A grenade exploded near a Bangkok shopping mall early Friday, injuring one person and rattling the Thai capital less than a week after a similar blast left a bystander dead and several more hospitalised.

Authorities have declined to speculate if the explosions are linked to the country's ongoing political turbulence.

The latest grenade was hidden in a garbage bag and placed alongside other trash bags in front of a residential building opposite the King Power duty-free shopping centre in the Din Daeng neighbourhood of Bangkok, said police Capt. Nitti Niruttiwat.

It exploded at 1:30am and seriously injured a bystander, he said.

"The bomb squad found the safety pin of a grenade amid the debris at the crime scene and the area was reeking with petrol," he told The Associated Press, adding that investigators had not yet determined how the blast was triggered.

On Sunday, a grenade exploded near a bus stop in another part of downtown Bangkok, killing one person and wounding 10.

No one has claimed responsibility for either blast.

Thailand has been wracked by political turmoil for the past four years, with tensions coming to a head in April and May when some 90 people were killed and more than 1,400 were injured during two months of protests in central Bangkok.

The protesters were demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and only cleared the streets when the army moved in on May 19.