Wednesday, 28 January 2009

Road deaths rise on holiday

Photo by: Sovann Philong
Traditional dragon dancers celebrate Chinese New Year on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Mom Kunthear
Wednesday, 28 January 2009

Lunar New Year celebrations ended in the capital Tuesday with 14 serious traffic accidents including six fatalities, which officials blame on bad driving.

ALTHOUGH Lunar New Year was celebrated this year in Phnom Penh with relatively muted enthusiasm, government officials have expressed concern over a startling rise in traffic accidents, including six fatalities, over the festival's two main holidays.

"There were five people who died, six who were seriously injured and seven who received relatively small injuries on the 25th alone," Pen Khun, deputy director of the Traffic Police, told the Post Tuesday.

"And there was one death, eight serious injuries and one small injury on the 26th," he added.

Pen Khun said the number of accidents - 14 in total - were markedly higher than those recorded during last year's celebrations, and were mostly a result of drunk driving.

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