Road accidents claim about 130 lives in Indonesian

JAKARTA - At least 128 people have been killed in road accidents this week as millions of Indonesians home to celebrate the Muslim festival of Eid ul-Fitr, local media reports said Thursday.

“The number of traffic accidents between Sep 3 and 7 reached 643 cases, with 128 people killed, 165 people seriously injured and 325 slightly injured,” the state-run Antara news agency quoted national police spokesman Marwoto Soeto as saying.

The statistics were from just six of the country’s 33 provinces, Marwoto said, adding that the highest numbers were from the province of West Java.

Most of those killed were travelling on motorcycles, he said.

This year’s Eid ul-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, was scheduled to be celebrated Friday in Indonesia, the world’s most-populous Muslim nation.

About 30 million people are expected to travel during the holiday season to celebrate Eid ul-Fitr in their home towns this year, most of them on Indonesia’s main islands of Java and Sumatra.

More accidents were expected when the holidaymakers flock back to the major cities next week.

More than 500 people were killed in accidents during last year’s holiday season.

Motorcyclists often carry up to three passengers, including children, despite a rule banning them from carrying more than one.