Holiday traffic accidents claim 34

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