CHON BURI: One monk died and eight other monks and novices were seriously injured after a songtaew slid off the road while travelling up a hill to a temple in Chon Buri's Si Racha district on Monday.
Phra Khru Baidika Theerasak Thammateeroh died at the scene while the others were sent to the nearby hospital.
The songtaew — a pickup truck with passenger seats in the back —was carrying the monks back to Wat Khao Phra Kru in tambon Surasak after a merit-making event at a school in Si Racha district on Monday morning, according to Pol Col Chakkrapan Kittisiripornkul, superintendent of Si Racha police station.
The vehicle lost control and crashed into an electricity post, sending the passengers 30 metres down an embankment adjacent to the road.
A monk, among the victims, tearfully said Phra Khru Baidika Theerasak had moved to stand at the rear of the truck to prevent the others from falling from the vehicle causing him to be the first to be thrown out.
The police are now tracking down the driver, who fled after the accident.