At least 340 killed in exodus in Indonesia

People queue to get train tickets, before heading to their hometowns, at the Senen train station in Jakarta August 16, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

JAKARTA - Traffic accidents during the exodus to home towns for celebrating Islamic festivity in Indonesia have killed at least 340 people and seriously injured 487 others, police said here on Friday.

Based on the police data since Friday last week, when the exodus started to peak, there had been 1,995 traffic accidents across the archipelago country with over 17,500 islands where over 15,000 Muslims return to home towns, said Brig. General Rafli Amar, national police spokesman.

"There have been 1,995 accidents on the roads across Indonesia since we launched the operation, the death toll is 340, while the number of badly injured people is 487," said Amar, quoted by detik.com, one of the biggest portal in the country.

To help secure the big journey, police had dispatched 88,000 of its personnel, he said.

Return to homeland for celebrating Islamic festivity is a tradition in Indonesia, where most of its 238 million population are Muslims that make it the world's most populous Muslim country.