35 die per day over 9-day Tet holiday in Vietnam

As such, 35 people died per day on average from February 15 to 23, the committee said, adding that the daily death toll increased by three compared to the same period last year.

Of the 536 accidents, 525 were on roads, killing 308 people and wounding 505 others; 10 occurred on the railway, leaving nine dead and three people injured; and one happened on an inland waterway, wounding one person.

Compared to last year’s Tet vacation, which also lasted for nine days, the number of accidents and injuries people dropped by 6.9 percent and 13.9 percent respectively, but the death toll increased by 35, or 12.4 percent, the committee said.

On Monday, the fifth day of Tet (February 23), alone, 70 traffic accidents occurred across the country, leaving 44 dead and 68 injured. Of these accidents, 69 happened on roads and the other occurred on the railway.

The causes of the traffic accidents over the past nine days are varied, including driving under the influence of alcohol, encroaching on the wrong lane or driving the wrong way and speeding, the committee said.

Four serious accidents occurred in four provinces, including Hung Yen and Hai Duong in the northern region, Quang Nam in the central part and Ba Ria-Vung Tau in the south, killing 14 people in total and injuring one person, according to the committee.

One of these fatal accidents happened on February 18, Lunar New Year's Eve, in Yen My District, Hung Yen Province, between a car and a motorbike, killing five people on the bike, including its driver, and four others from the same family.

The victims included Bui Quy Thai, 39, the bike driver; Nguyen Van Son, 32; his 29-year-old wife, Nguyen Thi Ngat; and their two children, Nguyen Van Huy, an eight-year-old boy, and Nguyen Thi Nga, a five-year-old girl.

According to initial investigations, the driver of the car had encroached on the wrong lane before hitting the bike, which was traveling in the opposite direction.

In Ho Chi Minh City, the country’s southern hub, 58 traffic accidents occurred during the Tet vacation, killing 12 people and wounding 55 others, local police reported.

Notably, all three figures are lower than those in the same period last year, police said.