Twenty-three fatalities in Lao New Year road toll
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In just four days of the Lao New Year holiday from April 13 to 16, a total of 23 people were killed and 207 road accidents were reported nationwide.
According to statistics from the Traffic Police Department of the Ministry of Public Security, most of the accidents occurred in Vientiane, where 42 incidents resulting in eight fatalities were reported.
Only Phongsaly and Xaysomboun provinces recorded no road accidents during the holiday period.
The number of accidents was up from the 199 reported during the festival last year, while the number of fatalities declined from 26 last year.
Traffic authorities said the main cause of accidents was drivers not following traffic regulations such as drunk driving, speeding, or losing control of their vehicles.
Mechanical failure and the unsafe condition of vehicles were also factors in some of the accidents.
According to the Xinhua news agency, 47 people were killed in road accidents during the last four days of the Cambodian New Year holiday this year, up 9 per cent from 43 deaths over the same period last year. Some 98 road accidents resulted in 47 deaths and 207 injuries from Wednesday to Saturday, in comparison to 123 accidents causing 43 deaths and 281 injuries in road crashes during last year’s festival, the report said.
In Thailand, the first six days of the ‘seven dangerous days’ of Thailand’s Songkran water festival running from April 11 to 17 saw 442 people lost their lives and 3,656 others injured in 3,447 road accidents, a 29.74 per cent jump from last year.
