Bangkok bomb: Uber offers free taxis to give blood following explosion in Thai capital

More than 20 people have died and 123 are in hospital following the blast in the centre of the busy city

Doctors rush a victim injured in the Bangkok bomb blast into hospital (Reuters)

Uber has offered customers in Bangkok free rides to and from hospital to donate blood in the wake of the pipe bomb attack that left 22 people dead.

Uber Bangkok is offering anyone who wishes to donate blood a free ride to and from the Thai Red Cross Society until 23 August.

Thailand has been shocked by a recent bomb attack on the Hindu Erawan Shrine in Bangkok at around 7pm on Monday evening that has claimed the lives of 20 people so far. More than 123 are in hospital.

“Uber Bangkok is deeply saddened by the horrific events at Ratchaprasong this evening. To assist those injured, we would like to facilitate the process of blood donation for anyone in Bangkok wishing to do so,” a statement on the international company’s website read on Monday.

The Thai Red Cross has treated 27 people, including three children, at the Kinf Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital on Tuesday. Although the National Blood Centre has provided enough blood products for patients so far, donors have been alerted should there be an urgent need, a statement from the organisation said.

The attack has seemingly taken Thai authorities by surprise with the government scrabbling to mobilise thousands of troops, as the PM Prayuth Chan-ocha reassured citizens that all efforts were being made to trace the culprits.

CCTV images leaked online earlier on Tuesday purported to show a male individual, wearing a yellow t-shirt, dropping a bag by the shrine before disappearing into the crowd. The unidentified man has subsequently been named as the bomber by police.

Additional reporting by Press Association