HOUSTON (AP) — A group of Buddhist monks in the middle of a 2,300-mile (3,700-kilometer) walk across the U.S. to promote peace planned to resume their journey after two of them were injured during a traffic accident near Houston, a spokesperson for the group said Thursday.
The collection of about two dozen monks began their walk on Oct. 26 from Fort Worth, Texas, to “raise awareness of peace, loving kindness, and compassion across America and the world,” according to the group, Walk for Peace. The monks planned to travel through 10 states before reaching Washington, D.C.
So far, the monks have visited various Texas cities on their trek, including Austin and Houston, often walking along roads and highways while being escorted by law enforcement or by a vehicle trailing behind them, said Long Si Dong, a spokesperson for the group. The monks are being accompanied on their journey by their dog Aloka.
At around 6:13 p.m. Wednesday, the monks were walking along the side of U.S. Highway 90 near Dayton, Texas, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northeast of Houston, when their escort vehicle, which had its hazard lights on, was hit by a truck, said Dayton Interim Police Chief Shane Burleigh.
The truck “didn’t notice how slow the vehicle was going, tried to make an evasive maneuver to drive around the vehicle, and didn’t do it in time,” Burleigh said. “It struck the escort vehicle in the rear left, pushed the escort into two of the monks.”
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One of the monks has “substantial leg injuries” and was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Houston, Burleigh said. The other monk with less serious injuries was taken by ambulance to another hospital in suburban Houston.
In a video posted on Walk for Peace’s Facebook page, an unidentified spokeswoman for the group said the most seriously injured monk was expected to have a series of surgeries to heal a broken bone, but his prognosis for recovery was good. The group said the monk’s surgery on Thursday went well.
“He’s in good spirits. He’s giving us thumbs-up,” the spokeswoman said. The condition of the other monk was not immediately known.
The monks, who camped overnight near Dayton, planned to resume their walk “with steadfast determination,” Walk for Peace said.
“We kindly ask everyone to continue keeping the monks in your thoughts and prayers as healing begins and the journey toward peace continues,” the group said in a post on Facebook.
After the accident, the monks do not plan to change how they conduct their walk, which takes place along highways but also through open fields, Dong said. Walk for Peace plans to continue working with local law enforcement in the areas they travel through to ensure the safety of the monks, he said.
“Right now, everything is still as planned,” Dong said.
The driver of the truck that hit the monk’s escort vehicle is cooperating with the investigation, which is still ongoing, Burleigh said.
“Right now, we’re looking at this as driver inattention,” said Burleigh, who added that police will determine at the end of the investigation if any charges will be filed.
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