CHAIYAPHUM: A monk and three elderly women were killed and six other people seriously hurt when a van taking them for a cremation ceremony ran off the road and struck a tree in Chatturat district on Saturday morning.
The fatal crash occurred on Highway 201 in tambon Laharn, said Pol Capt Sa-nga Piromkit, deputy investigation chief at the Chatturat police station, who was alerted around 9.30am.
Police and rescue workers found the van with Khon Kaen licence plates next to a tree on the median when they arrived at the scene. Its front was badly damaged.
Four people were found dead and six others seriously hurt. All were trapped inside the van.
The dead were a senior monk identified later as Phra Khru Yanworawisut Wanalusor of Satikaram temple in Khon Kaen, and three elderly women.
Van driver Khamman Donphonphan, 73, was injured along with four elderly woman and a man. All were sent to nearby hospitals.
According to a police investigation, the van was en route to a royally sponsored cremation ceremony in Bamnet Narong district of Chaiyaphum when it ran off the road on a curve and hit the road divider. The force of the crash killed the monk and the three laypeople on the spot.
Police are examining closed-circuit television cameras and will question the injured and those who witnessed the incident to find more about the exact cause of the crash.
(Photo: Makhawan Wannakul)