Sawt Falasteen - Three dead in Bangkok mall shooting, attacker arrested

Hundreds of people fled the upmarket Siam Paragon mall in the heart of the Thai capital as shots rang out around 4:30 pm (0930 GMT), witnesses told AFP.

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin told reporters the attacker had been apprehended and the situation brought under control.

"Police are clearing the scene. The situation is easing," Srettha told reporters.

Yuthana Srettanan, director of the Erawan Emergency Center, said three people were killed and four wounded in the incident, in a message sent to reporters.

"At around 4.30 pm, I heard loud gun noises, continuously, about 10 times," Thanpawasit Singthongkham, 31, who works at a Japanese restaurant in the mall, told AFP.

"Then the department store announced that there was a shooting. The emergency sign was turned on and everyone ran to get out."

In footage shared with AFP, he recorded a scrum of terrified shoppers scrabbling under metal security gates blocking shop entrances, before they fled down emergency stairwells as sirens blared

In another video, shared on Facebook and verified by AFP, scores of people can be seen in the mall's basement car park, being directed by loudspeakers.

Dozens of police vehicles and a number of ambulances could be seen outside one of the shopping centre's main entrances in the wake of the incident.

- 'Terrified' -

People were still being escorted from the mall, while bystanders could be seen walking past along the gridlocked road outside.

"We didn't know what was happening, then staff from a shop asked us to go inside and said there was a shooter," Chinese tourist Xiong Ying 41, told AFP.

"Everyone was trying to find a place to hide. So many people were terrified, just like a scene in the zombie movies.

"I now feel quite scared. It happened just like two minutes after we left by crossing the bridge. We even took photos there."

Siam Paragon is one of Bangkok's top shopping destinations, hugely popular with tourists and locals alike.

The shooting comes just days before the one-year anniversary of one of the bloodiest days in recent Thai history, when an ex-police officer armed with a knife and gun attacked a nursery, murdering 24 children and 12 adults.

In 2020, a former army officer went on a rampage in a shopping mall in Korat, murdering 29 people and wounding scores more.

C.AbuSway--SF-PST