😔 An
11-year-old boy stole a pickup truck and drove it into a procession
of Buddhist monks on a pilgrimage, resulting in the deaths of 10
monks and seriously injuring 13 others.
The 11-year-old
boy drove his car into a procession of monks on a pilgrimage, killing
ten monks.
At the scene,
monks were found scattered on the road and roadside. Emergency
personnel provided first aid and transported the injured to nearby
hospitals.
The incident
occurred on Ban Na Si Nuan Road, Mueang District, Mukdahan Province.
Five monks died at the scene, while seven others were seriously
injured and taken to the hospital for urgent medical treatment.
Later, it was
learned that three more monks died at the hospital, bringing the
total death toll to 8, with 13 others seriously injured.
The pilgrimage
consisted of 34 monks and 5 lay people, who were traveling from
Mukdahan city towards Ubon Ratchathani Province.
The perpetrator
has been apprehended by police. Preliminary information indicates he
is an 11-year-old juvenile with special needs. Initial investigations
revealed that the victim stole a pickup truck belonging to their
guardian and was driving against the flow of traffic from Don Tan
District towards Mueang District when the tragic accident occurred.
The Governor of
Mukdahan Province is currently on the ground investigating the facts
and has visited the injured at the hospital. Further updates will be
reported.
♰ Rescue efforts are ongoing on Lake Tana in Ethiopia after a boat carrying Orthodox Christian pilgrims sank, following a possible collision with another vessel.
The passengers were travelling to attend the annual feast at the St. Kristos Semra when the accident occurred.
Witnesses say strong winds may have played a role in the collision, which led to water entering one of the boats and causing it to sink.
The incident comes years after a similar accident on the same lake claimed multiple lives during the same religious pilgrimage period.
♰ May the Souls of the faithfully departed, Rest in Peace. ♰
😇 The Life of Kristos Samra (ክርስቶስ ሠምራ)
“Gädlä Krəstos Śämra (The Life-Struggles of Krəstos Śämra [Christ
Delights in Her]), written in an Ethiopian monastery sometime between 1450 and 1508, is about a saintly woman who lived in the fifteenth century (no exact dates of her birth or death appear in her hagiography). The text gives a short overview of Krəstos Śämra’s life in the third person, but then proceeds in the first person as Krəstos Śämra describes a series of her religious visions, including one in which she attempts to reconcile Christ and Satan.
Although the text contains a few biographical details about her, it is more of an intellectual autobiography, the narrative of one woman’s philosophy and her belief in the possibilities for healing a broken world. As such, this text expands our understanding of the global female visionary tradition, which tends to be oriented more toward reconciliation than damnation.
Today, Krəstos Śämra is Ethiopia’s most popular female saint. Thousands attend her annual festival at the wealthy monastery she founded, at Gʷangʷət,on southeastern Lake Ṭana, in the Ethiopian highlands. Her festival day
is August 30; many online videos record the pilgrimages, hymns, and celebrations in her honor. Churches and monasteries in Ethiopia are named after her and devoted to her. She holds a special place in women’s hearts as
the saint most likely to help women conceive, give birth to a healthy child, and survive childbirth.
Krəstos Śämra’s name is also spelled in Latin letters as Christos Samra, Kirstos Semra, Krestos Samra,Kristos Samra, and Kristos Semra, all attempts to transcribe her proper name as it appears in the characters (called fidäl) of the ancient language of Gəˁəz: ክርስቶስ ሠምራ.
