The first nine months of this year saw 18,697 traffic accidents occur nationwide, killing 6,758 people and injuring 17,835 others, the National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC) has reported.

>> American coach of Vietnam’s Saigon Heat dies of accident, aged 49 Compared with the same period last year, the number of accidents dropped by 14.47 percent (or 3,164 cases), the death toll fell by 4.01 percent (or 280 deaths), and the number of injured decreased by 18.11 percent (or 3,945 people). Eleven provinces and cities saw their traffic death toll decrease by over 20 percent, including Bac Giang, Bac Kan, Ninh Thuan, Da Nang, Cao Bang, Quang Ninh, Lang Son, Phu Tho, Dak Lak, Binh Duong and Dong Thap. Notably, the death toll in Bac Giang dropped by as much as over 50 percent.      Meanwhile, the death toll increased in 14 localities, of which Ca Mau, Kien Giang, Vinh Long, Ben Tre and Vinh Phuc provinces reported increases of over 25 percent. The period also saw 129 railway accidents take place, down by one case from the same period last year, claiming 111 lives, down by 6 victims, and injuring 31 others, down by 2 people. The NTSC also said 57 waterway traffic accidents occurred in the past nine months, killing 43 people and wounding six others. Compared to the same period in 2013, these figures increased by 9.62 percent, 16.22 percent and 20 percent respectively. Ten maritime traffic accidents were also recorded in the past nine months, but they did not cause casualties, the NTSC said. Standing deputy chairman of the center and Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang attributed the remarkable improvements in the rate of traffic accidents to the great efforts of authorities from all levels. However, the number of traffic accidents remains high, especially in rural areas, the minister said.

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