Death toll from work safety accidents in China dropped 15.2 percent year on year to 10,854 in the first two months this year, according to China's work safety authority.

Total number of work safety accidents in January and February was down 9.6 percent year on year to 63,552, with 312 major accidents killing 1,248 people, said the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) Thursday.

The number of coal mine accidents declined 9 percent in the first two month, reducing death toll by 14.2 percent compared with the same period last year. The number of road traffic accidents slid by 12 percent, with death toll down 17.3 percent, according to the SAWS.

No aviation accident was reported in the first two months, said the SAWS.

The total death toll from work safety accidents in China in 2009 dropped by 8.8 percent year on year to 83,196, according to SAWS data.

(Xinhua News Agency March 19, 2010)