A child driving a pickup truck without permission ploughed into a column of Buddhist monks walking along a road in northeastern Thailand on Thursday, killing at least eight and injuring more than 20, according to local authorities. The boy, aged 11, had taken the vehicle from his family home and driven approximately 10 kilometres before losing control and striking the group, which was on a 260-kilometre pilgrimage from Mukdahan province to Ubon Ratchathani. Security camera footage released by a local rescue association shows the monks walking in single file at the roadside moments before the truck veered into them.

Provincial police chief Major General Pairoj Thaiphutsa confirmed that the child remains in custody but has not yet been formally questioned because he is in a state of shock. No charges have been filed, and investigators are examining the vehicle forensically to determine the precise cause of the crash. Witnesses among the monks reported that the truck was zigzagging before it left the road. Some officials have described the boy as having special needs, though this detail has not been uniformly confirmed across all official statements. Under Thai law, children under 12 cannot be held criminally responsible; those under 15 fall under juvenile protection statutes and cannot be imprisoned. Legal proceedings are therefore focusing on the parents, who have been summoned to establish whether they failed in their duty of care.

The victims were part of a procession of 35 monks and five lay followers who had set out about 30 minutes before the collision. Five monks died at the scene, and three more succumbed to their injuries in hospital, according to the provincial governor. A ninth death was later announced by the provincial office, though some official tallies still refer to eight fatalities. Medical sources report that at least four of the injured remain in critical condition, with around ten others seriously hurt. A surviving monk, Phra Sompong, recounted that he and another monk managed to jump clear as the vehicle bore down on them at high speed.

Thailand has one of the world’s highest rates of road fatalities, a fact often linked to speeding, drink-driving, and lax enforcement. The crash has prompted calls from the provincial governor for greater vigilance by families to prevent minors from accessing vehicles. The investigation remains open, and authorities have not ruled out negligence charges against the adults responsible for the child.