Thailand suffered a record high of 397 deaths in the first six days of its New Year’s festival of Songkran, the Thai transport minister, Arkhom Termpittayapaisit, said on Sunday.
The death toll represents a 30% rise over last year’s count across the weeklong festival, with Sunday still unaccounted for during the minister’s press conference. A total of 3,104 traffic collisions had occurred, resulting in 3,271 people seriously injured.
Most collisions involved motorcycles.
Image: mark baker/AP
Most of the deaths were caused by speeding and drink driving, and the vast majority of accidents involved motorcycles, at over 80%, the ministry said. Thailand has one of the highest motorcycle ownership rates in the world, at 87% of households, according to Pew Research Center figures. Read more…
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