Uthai Thani: Monk driving Mazda causes fatal accident, one dead, four injured

A fatal accident occurred yesterday in Lan Sak, Uthai Thani, when a monk driving a Mazda pickup truck lost control of his vehicle, killing one woman and injuring four others.

The accident occurred on the Lan Sak-Thap Than Road, Moo 1, Pradu Yuen Subdistrict, Lan Sak District, Uthai Thani, less than 500 metres from the Pa Ka intersection, near the Pradu Yuen Subdistrict Administration Organization.

The deceased woman, 54 year old Amphon Amdonkloy, along with the four injured individuals, all residents of Pradu Yuen, were waiting by the road for a rice harvesting vehicle when they were struck.

The monk driving the pickup truck, Phra Kittiphra Mahachoti, resides at a temple in Lan Sak District, Uthai Thani. He revealed that around 3pm, he had left his temple intending to borrow 2,000 baht from a fellow monk to pay for his religious education at another temple in Thap Than District.

Feeling tired and drowsy, he turned his vehicle around to return to his temple. On the way back, his vehicle veered off the road and collided with the group waiting by the roadside, causing the fatal accident.

Ekkachal Nuanphong, a Lan Sak Police Station officer, questioned the monk for several hours as he was still in a state of exhaustion.

Initially, the monk admitted to being the driver and it is suspected that he may have dozed off at the wheel, causing his vehicle to cross into the oncoming traffic lane and hit the motorbike and the group of workers. The monk was later taken to Wat Pradu Yuen to be disciplined by the abbot or the district chief monk according to the monastic code, and legal proceedings will follow, reported KhaoSod.

In related news, a car accident on National Highway 7 in Hallindal, Norway, on October 11 killed two Thai nationals and injured five other Thais, including two children.

The Royal Thai Embassy in Oslo, Noway, reported on October 19 that the Thai ambassador and relevant authorities invited monks from a Thai temple in Oslo to perform a ceremony for the deceased at the accident site on October 18. Read more about this story HERE.

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