2 people shot, wounded near Thai protest site

BANGKOK, Mar 7: Two passers-by were wounded by gunshots fired from a park today that is occupied by anti-Government protesters in the heart of the country’s capital, police said.
A 31-year-old woman was shot while walking on the street and a taxi driver was wounded in the leg while driving near the protest venue of Lumpini Park, said police Col. Chaiya Kongsub.
He said the bullets came from inside the park but did not say who fired the shots.
Protest spokesman Akanat Promphan said he was unaware of the incident.
Erawan emergency medical services said both of the wounded have been discharged from hospitals.
The protesters this week consolidated the rally they had been staging at several major intersections in the city to the one venue Lumpini, saying they wanted to minimize the impact of the protests on city residents after six weeks of a so-called shutdown operation in the capital.
Twenty-three people have been killed and more than 700 injured since Thailand’s latest round of political conflict began last November. Protesters want the prime minister to resign, but she is refusing. (AGENCIES)