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One Possibly Killed, 10 Wounded as Thai Troops, Protesters Clash in Bangkok

One person has possibly been killed and ten others have been wounded as Thai troops fired live rounds in the air and shot rubber bullets in a chaotic clash with anti-government protesters on a highway in Bangkok’s suburbs, reported Reuters.

Attempting to stop a convoy of nearly 2000 red-shirt protesters, soldiers used rubber bullets and fired into the air with automatic weapons, report said.

The protesters, who had left central Bangkok in defiance of a state of emergency, were on pickup trucks and on motorcycles.

According to report, about 100 protesters moved ahead of the main convoy, forcing the security personnel and police to use batons and shields to drive them back.

Witnesses said that some protesters fought back throwing stones and shooting metal balls from sling slots, said report.

But the fight came to a stop as a strong tropical rainstorm moved over the traffic-choked area about 40 km (25 miles) from central Bangkok on Vipawadee-Rangsit road, report said.

Quoting its photographer, Reuters reported that a soldier was shot in the head and was feared dead.

In the meanwhile, an official at Bhumibol Airforce Hospital in northern Bangkok said that some 10 persons were hospitalized, report said.

The nature of their injuries is still not known.

Report said that the main convoy of protesters was around 8 km behind the scene of the clash.

Earlier in the morning, the protesters, honking horns and singing on the back of their pick-up trucks and motorcycles, left their fortified base near the business district, heading for a market 50 km (30 miles) away.

Initially, riot police and troops didn’t try to stop them and thousands remained at their encampment in a ritzy shopping district in central Bangkok they have occupied since April 3.

Security forces reinforced checkpoints outside the shopping district with more troops and police.

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