Traffic accidents rise sharply during Tet hinh anh 1Illustrative image (Source: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – Traffic accidents rose sharply during the week-long Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday, killing 203 people and injuring 417 others in 368 incidents.

Road accidents accounted for 97.8 percent (360) of the total incidents, 97 percent (197) of the deaths, and 97.36 percent (406) of the injured during the holiday from January 26 to February 1.

There were eight railway accidents, killing six and injuring 11 people.

Traffic accidents peaked on January 30 (the third day of the Lunar New Year), with 60 incidents in which 38 people were killed and 69 others wounded.

Only six provinces were free of traffic accidents during the holiday, namely Bac Ninh, Cao Bang, Kon Tum, Ninh Binh, Son La and Lao Cai.

Traffic accidents respectively rose 29.5 percent, 11.5 percent and 48 percent in the numbers of incidents, deaths and injured people during Tet, according to the Traffic Police Department.

Sen. Lt. Col. Nguyen Quang Nhat, head of the department’s communication division, blamed the surge on people driving over the speed limit, not wearing helmets while riding motorbikes and drink-driving.

He admitted that forces’ lax examination and punishment of traffic violations, especially in rural areas, was another cause of the rise in accidents.-VNA
VNA