Multiple traffic accidents have taken place nationwide during the first four days of the Tet holidays, according to Vietnam's National Traffic Safety Committee.

The committee said that 155 traffic accidents played out, 121 people died and 120 were injured from February 14 to 17, compounding the carnage on the road.

There were 54 accidents, leading to 34 fatalities and 36 injuries in such crashes only in one day, from 7:00 am on the first day (February 16) to the same time on the second day (February 17) of the Lunar New Year festival, the committee added.

The number of road accidents increased rapidly and continuously for three days of the celebration, from February 15 to 17.

The chief causes of the events, the majority of which occurred in countryside areas, include drunken driving, exceeding speed limits, failure to don helmets, and lenience from police.

One serious accident, in Dong Nai Province on the afternoon of February 16, involved 31-year-old Tran Viet Ngoc Thien, whose bus collided with a motorcycle moving in the opposition direction.

The latter transport means, badly damaged, was ridden by two locals, Nguyen Thi Thuy Hang, 21, who died while being sent to the hospital, and Nguyen Thi Thu Nguyet, 52, who passed at the scene.

In another incident, a man named Nguyen Tu Tan, 23, in Vietnam's southernmost province of Ca Mau, carrying 22-year-old Nguyen Tu Phong, crashed into another motorcycle driven by Lam Van Tay, 20, and 16-year-old Danh Thi Thu Giang, in Kien Giang Province.

In the aftermath, three of them died and one was wounded.

More than 5,000 traffic patrols were conducted by police on the first day and the morning of the second day of the Lunar New Year festival, with over 1,500 offenses detected, about 746 vehicles forfeited, and 67 driver’s licenses confiscated as a result.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!