Songkran road toll rises to 173
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The death toll from road accidents in the first three days of the Songkran holiday break has reached 173, an increase of 29 per cent from last year with 1,526 people injured while drunk driving was a the major cause of accident.
Interior Minister Charupong Ruangsuwan Sunday instructed 76 provincial governors and concerned officials to adopt strict law enforcement after statistic showed that this year’s death toll exceeded that of last year, despite fewer road accidents.
Charupong called a meeting of a special panel to reduce road accidents during Songkran, saying the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation’s statistics showed that this year’s Songkran Day 13 April saw 655 accidents or a 10 per cent reduction but 72 were killed or 28 per cent increase from last year.
The Nation
