BANGKOK: Road accidents during the Songkran long holiday have claimed 114 lives and injured 1,064 people nationwide, according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.
Boontham Lertsukheekasem, director-general of the department, said yesterday (Apr 14) that from Tuesday to Thursday there were 1,055 traffic accidents in which 114 people were killed and 1,064 others were injured.
The most accidents (38) happened in the northern province of Chiang Mai, reports the Bangkok Post. Bangkok recorded the highest death toll, nine, and Chiang Mai and the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat had the highest number of injured people at 40 each, Mr Boontham said.
On Thursday alone there were 437 traffic accidents, 49 related deaths and 448 injured people.
The most common cause of the accidents was speed limit violation which resulted in 37% of all traffic accidents, followed by drink driving which caused 29% of the accidents. Seventy-nine percent of the accidents involved motorcycles, Mr Boontham said.
The tally for the ‘Seven Days of Danger’ campaign in Phuket from Tuesday to yesterday read 34 accidents resulting in 36 people injured and two deaths, according to a report by Phuket officials.
– Additional reporting by The Phuket News
