Over 6,500 die of traffic accidents in Jan-Sep, down 3.5%
The death toll from traffic accidents in the nine months ending on September 15 decreased by more than 3.5% year on year to over 6,500 people, the National Traffic Safety Committee reported on September 30.
The period, from December 16, 2014 to September 15, 2015, saw 16,459 traffic accidents take place across the country, claiming 6,518 lives and injuring 14,929 people, the committee said.
As such, around 724 people died per month on average in traffic accidents during the period, or over 24 people per day.
In comparison with the same period last year, the numbers of traffic accidents and resulting deaths and injuries were down by 12%, 3.55% and 6.29%, respectively, the committee said.
In the period from August 16 to September 15, 697 people passed away and 1,695 others were wounded in 1,837 traffic accidents nationwide.
As compared year on year, the number of accidents in that period dropped by 153, or 7.69%, while the death count rose by 1, or 0.14%, and the injuries plummeted by 378, or 18.23%, the committee said.
Road accidents kill around 9,000 people in Vietnam per year, or almost 25 deaths per day, while leaving hundreds of thousands of others with life-time injuries, Transport Minister Dinh La Thang said at a requiem held in Ho Chi Minh City on November 10, 2014 for the dead victims.
The event was organized to mark the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, which falls on the third Sunday of November each year.
Worldwide, road accidents claim about 1.3 million lives every year, and the figure is foreseen to increase to up to 1.9 million in the future, the committee said.