2.7.2026
An eleven 11-years-old boy is in police custody after crashing a vehicle into a group of monks killing eight of them.
According to Thai police the boy stole into his parents’ truck and went out for a joy ride which later turned tragic.
The Monks 30 in number were in a procession during a pilgrimage in Mukdahan northeast Thailand on Thursday when the disaster occurred.
Reports said 10 to 20 other people were injured, according to police and health officials.
Security camera footage shared by a local rescue group, Ruam Jai Mukdahan Rescue Association, shows the monks walking in a single line on the side of a road before the truck crashes into them.
“I saw a boy driving a pick-up truck approaching. At that moment I was chanting ‘Buddho, Buddho’ [a meditation mantra],” one monk, identified as Phra Sompong, said in a video posted online by local rescue workers.
“Then suddenly the truck hit at full speed and crashed [into] us, like this,” he said, gesticulating.
“Luckily another monk and I managed to jump out of the way in time,” he added.
“The first nine monks in line survived. But others who were hit were thrown into the air.”
Five monks died at the scene and three more later died in hospital, police said.
“The suspect is a child. The vehicle has been taken for forensic examination to determine the cause,” Major General Pairoj Thaiphutsa, commander of the Mukdahan Provincial Police, told reporters.
“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 [the] legal process,” he added.