Eight Thai monks killed after child drives truck into procession

Police say 11-year-old boy who took his parents’ vehicle without permission is now in custody and will be questioned.Eight Thai monks have been killed and other people injured after a child drove his family’s pick-up truck into a Buddhist procession.The child – who media reports said is 11 years old – stole his parents’ vehicle on Thursday and drove into a procession of about 30 monks on a pilgrimage in Thailand’s northeastern Mukdahan, local police told Al Jazeera.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Thai police arrest Australian over killing of teenager found in suitcaselist 2 of 3Thai Princess Bajrakitiyabha dies at 47 after three years in comalist 3 of 3What’s in the Thai-Cambodia peace agreement and can it hold?end of listReports said 10 to 20 other people were injured, according to police and health officials.The group of monks and lay followers were walking along a roadside in Mukdahan, about 600km northeast of the capital Bangkok, when the incident occurred.They had started the 260-km walk to Ubon Ratchathani province about 30 minutes before the crash, the Associated Press reported.Security camera footage shared by a local rescue group, Mukdahan-rescue-association" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="157283" data-entity-type="organization">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.”A handout photo by Mukdahan-rescue-foundation" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="157284" data-entity-type="organization">Ruamjai Mukdahan Rescue Foundation shows an injured monk arriving at Mukdahan-hospital" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="157285" data-entity-type="location">Mukdahan Hospital after a collision between a pick-up truck driven by an 11-year-old and a procession of Buddhist monks [Handout/Mukdahan-rescue-foundation" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="157284" data-entity-type="organization">Ruamjai Mukdahan Rescue Foundation via AFP]Five monks died at the scene and three more later died in hospital, police said.