ID :
55228
Mon, 04/13/2009 - 18:26
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/55228
The shortlink copeid
THAI PROTESTERS SET FIRE TO BUS
BANGKOK, April 13 (Bernama) -- Hundreds of anti-government protesters set
fire to a bus and damaged several others in a running street battle with
soldiers armed with automatic weapons.
Soldiers, carrying out a crackdown order issued by embattled Thai Prime
Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, managed to clear a major intersection at Victory
Monument and Din Daeng, pushing the red-shirted protesters to the Si Ayutthaya
junction leading to the popular Pratunam shopping area.
The protesters regrouped at a flyover near the area, setting fire to tyres
and throwing stones at the soldiers. They also caused panic among residents of
the nearby Din Daeng flat by parking a seized gas tanker there.
Soldiers fired hundreds of shots into the air as they chased the protesters,
but so far no deaths were reported.
The clashes started at 4am today when soldiers ordered the protesters to
disperse. Emergency agencies had said that at least 77 people were injured, but
later Abhisit announced that 47 protesters and 23 soldiers were injured,
including four who were shot.
Almost all the shops in the vicinity were closed as shopkeepers feared
looting and arson when the protesters gathered there following the declaration
of a state of emergency by Abhisit yesterday.
Protesters supporting ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra have closed
roads leading to the Government House, the seat of the country's administration
as they pile pressure on Abhisit to resign.
They used seized buses, tyres and steel barriers to block roads, including
in front of the Foreign Ministry, as the government reiterated its determination
to flush out the demonstrations this week.
Abhisit, who became premier last December after Thaksin's brother-in-law
Somchai Wongsawat was stripped of his post by the Constitution Court, is going
for broke after being humiliated by red-shirted protesters who stormed the
venue of the 14th Asean Summit in Pattaya on Saturday and forced its
cancellation.
Although the showdown with the protesters forced the official Songkran
celebrations in the capital to be cancelled, some residents continue to splash
water on passers-by.
-- BERNAMA
fire to a bus and damaged several others in a running street battle with
soldiers armed with automatic weapons.
Soldiers, carrying out a crackdown order issued by embattled Thai Prime
Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, managed to clear a major intersection at Victory
Monument and Din Daeng, pushing the red-shirted protesters to the Si Ayutthaya
junction leading to the popular Pratunam shopping area.
The protesters regrouped at a flyover near the area, setting fire to tyres
and throwing stones at the soldiers. They also caused panic among residents of
the nearby Din Daeng flat by parking a seized gas tanker there.
Soldiers fired hundreds of shots into the air as they chased the protesters,
but so far no deaths were reported.
The clashes started at 4am today when soldiers ordered the protesters to
disperse. Emergency agencies had said that at least 77 people were injured, but
later Abhisit announced that 47 protesters and 23 soldiers were injured,
including four who were shot.
Almost all the shops in the vicinity were closed as shopkeepers feared
looting and arson when the protesters gathered there following the declaration
of a state of emergency by Abhisit yesterday.
Protesters supporting ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra have closed
roads leading to the Government House, the seat of the country's administration
as they pile pressure on Abhisit to resign.
They used seized buses, tyres and steel barriers to block roads, including
in front of the Foreign Ministry, as the government reiterated its determination
to flush out the demonstrations this week.
Abhisit, who became premier last December after Thaksin's brother-in-law
Somchai Wongsawat was stripped of his post by the Constitution Court, is going
for broke after being humiliated by red-shirted protesters who stormed the
venue of the 14th Asean Summit in Pattaya on Saturday and forced its
cancellation.
Although the showdown with the protesters forced the official Songkran
celebrations in the capital to be cancelled, some residents continue to splash
water on passers-by.
-- BERNAMA
