Several foreign Buddhist monks were injured in Jehanabad district of Bihar when the minibus they were travelling in lost its control and fell into a roadside ditch on Wednesday. Six of them were sent to the hospital for medical attention.

The incident occurred near Salempur village under the Karauna police station area along National Highway 83 at around five in the morning. Around 25 monks from Vietnam, Myanmar and the US were travelling in the passenger vehicle.

“The tourist vehicle BR 02 PC1360 was travelling from Patna to Bodh Gaya when a stray dog suddenly came before it.

“The driver swerved left to save the animal because a tipper truck was coming from the opposite direction. As a result, he lost control of thevehicle and it fell into a roadside ditch. There was no collision between the two vehicles,” Jehanabad superintendent of police (SP) Arvind Pratap Singh told TheTelegraph.

Singh said that six of the Buddhist monks suffered some injuries and a police patrolling team of the local police station rushed to Jehanabad district hospital. However, he could not throw light on the nationality of the injured monks.

“All the Buddhist monks, including the injured ones, were later sent along with their caretaker Thiha Pang and guide Shiv Shankar Kumar, in another vehicle to Bodh Gaya. The vehicle that had met with an accident was later lifted out of the ditch and towed to Bodh Gaya,” the SP added.