Holiday traffic accidents claim 34

MEDAN, North Sumatra: Fifty traffic accidents were recorded during the Idul Fitri exodus in North Sumatra, killing 34 people and injuring 74 others, a police spokesman said on Monday.

North Sumatra Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Bambang Prihady said 40 accidents took place before Idul Fitri and 10 accidents after the holiday.

He said the accidents caused an estimated Rp 83 million in material losses.

"The number of accidents and victims over the last 10 days was much higher than the number of accidents and victims recorded in the same period last year. The increase has been estimated at 50 percent," Bambang told The Jakarta Post.

He said most of the accidents took place in Medan, with the rest occurring along the Sumatra Highway that connects Medan with several cities like Brastagi in Karo regency and Parapat in Simalungun regency.

In Medan, most of the fatalities were people traveling by motorcycle to visit relatives for the holiday. The majority of those killed outside the city were taking private vehicles or public transportation to tourist destinations.-- JP