Italian journalist among fatalities
Probably 14 more people, including an Italian photo journalist, were killed in the clash zone in downtown Bangkok yesterday, bringing the death toll to 53.
The Bangkok Emergency Medical Service's Erawan Centre reported at Wednesday midnight that a total of seven people were reported by hospitals to be killed Wednesday.
But a doctor of Phra Mongkut Hospital said late Wednesday night that nine bodies of slain protesters were inside the Pathumwanaram Temple and authorities would wait to retrieve the body in the morning. However, Thai PBS reported that the number inside the temple was six, including a woman who might be a nurse.
The Erawan Centre reported that 44 people were killed and 428 others were injured from the clashes. When counted with the figure of Thai PBS, the death toll rose to 51.
Out of 111 wounded persons currently hospitalised, 15 were in the ICU while 210 were released home, 10 were pending ER test results at Chulalongkorn and Police General hospitals.
The Italian journalist Polenghi Fabio, 48, was shot in the stomach at the Sarasin Intersection area yesterday morning and was rushed to the Police General Hospital along with six wounded persons being; a foreign woman identified as Michel Mark and five Thai men Wattanachai Eiumnak, Wittaya Ratchapansaeng, Santisuk Thabcharoen, Wichai Phrommak, and Wichai Minpaen.
Some demonstrators near the Sarasin intersection told reporters that the dead and injured were shot by some sniper hidden near Lumpini Park.
The hospital later yesterday announced that its blood reserve was insufficient to treat patients but its staff members could not get more blood hence urged media members to contact related officials to bring blood to them.
After the Thai troops regained control over the area, two |men, suspected to be red-shirt guards, were found dead with gunshots in the head behind the makeshift bunker near Lumpini Park.