BANGKOK, April 16 — Road accidents claimed 255 lives and injured 2,439 persons in the first five days of the ‘Songkran’ holiday’s “seven dangerous days,” a senior Interior official reported on Tuesday.
Deputy Permanent Secretary for Interior Panadda Diskul told a news briefing that 2,290 road accidents were recorded from April 11 through 15.
On Monday (April 15) alone, 37 persons were killed and 419 others were hurt in 393 road accidents countrywide.
In the first five days of the seven-day campaign to reduce road accidents during the Thai New Year holiday, Chiang Mai recorded the highest number of accidents at 86 and the most injuries at 87.
Meanwhile, Kanchanaburi and Prachuap Khiri Khan recorded the most deaths at 11 each.
Ten provinces, however, recorded no deaths from road accidents: Chon Buri, Chaiyaphum, Trat, Nonthaburi, Pattani, Phuket, Yala, Ranong, Angthong and Amnat Charoen.
The causes of road accidents were mainly contributed to drunken driving and speeding, Mr Panadda explained
In a related development, holidaymakers began gradually returning to their homes as well as to Bangkok.
Mo Chit Bus Terminal in the capital began filling up. The number of revellers who returned to the capital today was expected to be some 170,000.
