Bangkok explosion
Wrecked motorcycles cover a street in central Bangkok after an explosion Monday, Aug. 17, 2015. Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha

Update 10:18 a.m. EDT: A previous version of this report stated that five people have been killed after an explosion in central Bangkok. New reports from local media estimate the death toll as between 15 and 27 people, with at least 80 more wounded.

The explosion occurred next to a temple in the Thai capital, and evidence appears consistent with a bomb.

"I can confirm it was a bomb. We can't tell which kind yet, we are checking," national police spokesman Lt. Gen. Prawut Thavornsiri told AFP, according the Telegraph. Bombings are very rare in Bangkok, and the explosion near the Erwan Shrine has come as a shock.

The last bombing in Bangkok occurred in a shopping mall in February and was reportedly related to the country's longstanding political tensions. Body parts were scattered everywhere near the temple Monday morning and there was a crater consistent with a bomb found at the scene. Authorities have not yet said who they believe is behind this explosion or what the motivations may have been.

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