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Traffic accidents kill 33 during holiday weekend in Vietnam

By Mai Ha, Thanh Nien News

HANOI - Monday, September 05, 2016 11:57

The number of people killed in road accidents was sharply down from normal during the holiday weekend, with 33 people being killed in 71 accidents and 59 others injured.

The statistics were released by the Traffic Police Department for the long weekend starting on National Day (September 2).

Traffic police nationwide issued total fines of nearly VND9.4 billion (US$422,000) to 23,614 drivers and temporarily seized 163 cars and 2,417 motorbikes.

Nguyen Trong Thai, the National Traffic Safety Committee spokesman, said there was a street race on National Highway 51 in Dong Nai on September 2 and traffic jams on major thoroughfares in Hanoi and HCMC on September 1 and 4.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, there have been 13,751 accidents in the country this year, killing 5,726 people and injuring 11,781.

On average, 23 people were killed onthe country's roads every day.