234 die in New Year’s highway carnage in Thailand
By DPA, IANSSunday, January 2, 2011
BANGKOK - Road accidents claimed 234 lives in Thailand’s first four days of the seven deadly days of New Year’s driving, officials said Sunday.
Between Wednesday to Saturday some 2,473 road accidents occurred on Thailand’s highways, killing 234 people and injuring 2,656, according to figures released by the government’s Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department.
The department said that about 40 percent of the accidents were caused by drunk driving and about 20 percent by speeding.
The Thai government has vowed to keep the road death toll during the seven deadly days of this New Year’s season, which runs from Dec 29 to Tuesday, to less than 300, compared with 446 crash victims last year.
Police have been ordered to step up checks for drunk drivers during the period when tens of thousands of Bangkokians leave the capital to enjoy the holiday in the provinces.
