Despite a reduced number of traffic accident fatalities over recent years, the number of children killed on the road in Ho Chi Minh City has been increasing.

Khuat Viet Hung, deputy chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee, announced on Sunday that the number of children, under 18 years old, who died in traffic accidents in the southern metropolis had risen during the 2013-2015 period.

The findings are the result of a research study conducted by the National Traffic Safety Committee in the first five months of 2016, according to Hung.

“The result is rather surprising and upsetting. It shocked us that despite a shrunk number of fatalities in traffic accidents, more and more children have been killed on the road,” the official stated.

According to the statistics, of the 775 people who lost their lives in traffic accidents in 2013, 35 were children.

In 2014, the number of road fatalities dropped to 702, however, child deaths were recorded at 61, almost double the figure of the previous year.

The number of deaths on the road continued to decline to 692 in 2015, Hung said, adding that 111 of them were children under the age of 18.

Among the deceased children, 70 percent were high school students, between the ages of 16 and 18, the official said.

Most of these students were caught in accidents while they were riding their electric bikes or motorcycles, he added.

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