Bangkok: An 11-year-old boy drove his parents’ pickup into a Buddhist procession in northeastern Thailand on Thursday, killing eight monks and injuring more than a dozen others, police said.
The procession, comprising 35 monks and five lay followers, was walking beside a road in Mukdahan province as part of a pilgrimage when the vehicle struck the group, according to police. Five monks died at the scene and three more succumbed to their injuries after being taken to hospital, while over 10 people were treated for injuries.
Police identified the driver as a child and said the pickup has been taken for forensic testing to establish what caused the crash. “The suspect is a child. The vehicle has been taken for forensic exa
mination to determine the cause,” Police Major General Pairoj Thaiphutsa, commander of the Mukdahan Provincial Police, told reporters.
Investigators said the boy had taken his parents’ truck without their permission and lost control before hitting the monks. Officers have summoned the parents to determine who was responsible for the child’s care so they can proceed with legal action, officials added. “We’ve asked the child’s parents to come in so we can determine who is responsible for the child’s care, so we can go on with legal process,” Major General Pairoj said.
Prayut Ruanthongkam, chief of Mukdahan City Police, confirmed to AFP by telephone that the driver was an 11-year-old boy. Emergency medical and rescue teams quickly responded and the injured were transported to Mukdahan Hospital for treatment.
Mukdahan provincial governor Worayan Bunnarat framed the tragedy as a broader road-safety warning and called for vigilance from families and the public.
“We’ve been very strict on road safety in recent years. This case should be a lesson not just for our province, but for the public in general when it comes to preventing road accidents,” he said.
He added that guardians must play a part in preventing such incidents: “I think everyone involved, especially parents, needs to help, because no one wants something like this to happen.”