BANGKOK, May 15, (Reuters) -Thai troops fired at protesters on Saturday in a third day of fighting on Bangkok's streets that has killed 16 people as soldiers struggle to isolate a sprawling encampment of demonstrators seeking to topple the government.
Clashes continued across central Bangkok as soldiers fired live rounds at protesters. One was shot in the chest while trying to ignite a rubber tyre in the business district, witnesses said.At Din Daeng intersection, north of the protest site, three bodies were evacuated on stretchers, a Reuters witness said.
Two suffered head wounds. Troops had also swarmed into a parking lot at the popular Dusit Thani hotel outside the protest site Protesters set fire to vehicles, including an army truck.
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| Thai men crawl as they recover the body of a man killed during clashes in Bangkok on May 15. AFP |
That followed a long night of thundering grenade explosions and sporadic gunfire as the army battled to set up a perimeter around a 3.5 sq-km (1.2 sq-mile) protest site of red-shirted demonstrators who refuse to leave.
“We'll keep on fighting,” said Kwanchai Praipana, a leader of the red-shirted protesters, calling on Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to resign and take responsibility for Thailand's deadliest political crisis in 18 years.
He said supplies of food, water and fuel were starting to run thin but they had enough to last “days”. The crisis has paralysed parts of Bangkok, squeezed Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy and scared off tourists. By Saturday, troops had taken control of checkpoints on at least three roads surrounding the main protest site, checking identification cards in an attempt to stop people from joining thousands in the area, including women and children.
Ban Ki-Moon concerned
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon expressed concern over “the rapidly mounting tensions and violence”.
“He strongly encourages them to urgently return to dialogue in order to de-escalate the situation and resolve matters peacefully,” his spokesman said in a statement. |
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