Asia-Pacific

Road accidents kill 114 in days of Songkran celebration

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-04-14 16:55
Large Medium Small

BANGKOK - Road accidents killed 114 people and injured 1,536 in the past two days in Thailand as the country is celebrating the annual Songkran festival, which marks the start of a new year in the Thai calendar, an official in charge of disaster prevention said Wednesday.

Related readings:
Road accidents kill 114 in days of Songkran celebration Thai protesters call off march for holiday
Road accidents kill 114 in days of Songkran celebration Pressure mounts on Thai PM after deadly clashes
Road accidents kill 114 in days of Songkran celebration Thai 'red-shirts' release 4 detained soldiers

Anucha Mokkhaves, director of Natural Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, said that during the two-day period, a total of 1,427 road accidents happened nationwide and on Tuesday along, 69 people lost their lives and 929 got injured in traffic.

Anucha said most of the accidents were caused by drunk driving and speeding, adding that the northeastern provinces of Nakhon Ratchasima and Ubon Ratchathani had the largest number of deaths, with seven each.
Specials
Columnists
China Daily E-paper