Eighty-nine people were killed and 111 others were injured in 152 crashes across Vietnam during the seven-day 2023 Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday starting January 20, the National Traffic Safety Committee reported on Thursday, citing the Ministry of Public Security.

Compared to the same period of last year’s Tet, the numbers of crashes and fatalities declined by 12 and three, respectively, while the injuries rose by eight.

Among the total traffic accidents, 147 cases happened on roads, four occurred on rails, and one in waterway traffic. 

Nineteen accidents occurred on Thursday, the last day of the Tet break and the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, killing 12 people and injuring 15 others.

During the week-long holiday, traffic police officers handled 21,990 cases of road traffic violations, imposed fines totaling some VND50.4 billion (US$2.15 million) on the violators, impounded 639 cars, 9,910 motorbikes and 50 other vehicles, and revoked 4,950 driver’s licenses.

Among the traffic violators were 7,726 drivers under the influence of alcohol, 2,211 overspeeding, and 17 abusing drugs.

Medical facilities across the country received 26,411 cases requiring medical examination and mergency treatment due to traffic accidents from 7:00 am on January 20 to 7:00 am on Thursday.

This figure does not exclude duplicate data in cases of one person visiting multiple hospitals, according to the National Traffic Safety Committee.

The traffic safety agency said that the waves of people coming back to big cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City for work after Tet increased remarkably on Thursday.

However, there was no serious traffic congestion at gateways to the metropolitan areas but some local traffic jams such as bottlenecks on the Hanoi-Hai Phong and Phap Van-Cau Gie Expressways in Hanoi and the gridlock on the Rach Mieu Bridge, which lies along a major route connecting Ho Chi Minh City and provinces in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta.

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