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Over 200 killed in road crashes during Lunar New Year holiday in Vietnam

Xinhua, February 2, 2017 Adjust font size:

Traffic accidents rose sharply during the week-long Lunar New Year holiday in Vietnam, killing 203 people and injuring 417 others in 368 incidents, the Traffic Police Department said on Thursday.

Road crashes accounted for 97.8 percent of the total incidents, 97 percent of the deaths, and 97.36 percent of the injured during the holiday which lasted from last Thursday to Wednesday.

At the same time, there were eight railway accidents, killing six and injuring 11 people.

Traffic accidents peaked on Monday (the third day of the Lunar New Year), with 60 incidents leaving 38 people killed and 69 others wounded.

Across Vietnam, only six localities were free of traffic accidents during the holiday, namely northern Bac Ninh, Cao Bang, Ninh Binh, Son La, Lao Cai and Central Highlands Kon Tum provinces.

Traffic accidents rose 29.5 percent, 11.5 percent and 48 percent in the numbers of incidents, deaths and injured people respectively, compared to the Lunar New Year holiday in 2016.

Nguyen Quang Nhat, head of the department's communication division, told the state-run news agency VNA that the surge in traffic accidents and casualties was blamed on speeding, drivers not wearing helmets, drunk driving as well as lax examination and punishment by police on traffic violations in rural areas. Endit