Eight passengers were killed and two others injured when a passenger van taking them to make merit overturned in Khon Kaen province early Saturday, police said.
Pol Col Preecha Kengsarikit, chief of Muang Khon Kaen police station, said on Saturday morning that the van with Nakhon Phanom licence plates overturned on a bypass road in tambon Phra Lap in Khon Kaen's Muang district.
The vehicle, carrying nine female passengers plus a male driver, left Nakhon Phanom around 11pm and was heading for Chaiyaphum province for merit-making at nine temples, the officer said.
Six women died on the spot and two succumbed to their injuries. All of them were over 60 years old. The driver and a nine-year-old girl sustained injuries. They were taken to Khon Kaen Hospital.
Police suspected the driver fell asleep behind the wheel. He will be interrogated once his condition improves.
