A collision between two motorbikes on a road in Vietnam during the first six days of the Tet break. Photo credit: Otofun
Vietnam recorded a high number of traffic deaths over the Lunar New Year holiday, with 199 dead and 326 injured, a government agency said late Saturday.
The government granted state employees nine days off for the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday, which began on February 15 and end Monday (February 23).
During the first six days of the break, 340 road accidents occurred across Vietnam, killing 199 and injuring 326 others, the National Traffic Safety Committee said in a report Saturday.
On February 20 alone, the day after the start of the holiday, 65 traffic accidents left 35 dead and 89 others injured, the report said.
All the accidents occurred on the road, the report said. An overwhelming majority of them were caused by motorcyclists who breached traffic rules, such as driving under the influence of alcohol, not wearing safety helmets or piling too many people onto one motorcycle, it said.
The report noted a “spike” in deaths caused by traffic accidents over the same period last year, without giving concrete figures. Road accidents and their resulting fatalities have increased accordingly and took place in a “complicated” fashion on national highways and in rural areas, it said.
Traffic accidents are not uncommon to motorbike-dominated Vietnam, which often records a spike in casualties during national holidays.
During the nine-day Tet break last year, 286 people were killed and 324 injured in traffic accidents.
Đăng ký: VietNam News
