BANGKOK, April 17 — Road accidents killed 277 people nationwide over the first six of the seven days of the Songkran holiday, according to the Road Safety Centre of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.
Visarn Techateerawat, caretaker deputy minister of interior, said that statistics compiled by the Road Safety Centre showed that 2,754 road accidents during the first six days of the seven-day campaign to reduce road accidents nationwide, ending today.
The number of road accidents over the first six days this year was 173 more than the first six days of the previous year, 277 deaths was nine less fatalities than last year and 2,926 injuries represented an increase of 143 over last year, he said.
Yesterday alone, 29 deaths and 283 injuries in 273 road accidents were reported.
Chiang Mai was tops in the number of accidents recorded at 107 while the death toll was highest in Nakhon Ratchasima at 13. Chiang Mai has also has the highest number of injuries at 118.
Most accidents resulted from drunk driving, followed by speeding.
Motorcycles are the vehicle type with the highest number of accidents, followed by pickup trucks.
