The number of people killed in traffic accidents during this year’s Pchum Ben holiday and preceding two days increased by nearly 50 percent over the same period last year, a senior police official said on Thursday.
From Saturday through Wednesday, there were 49 fatalities, compared to 28 during the same five-day period last year, according to Brigadier General Luy Chhin, deputy chief of the National Police’s public order department.
The number of injuries resulting from traffic accidents, however, dropped, from 327 in 2013 to 305 this year, Brig. Gen. Chhin said, adding that a total of 137 accidents were recorded by police this year.
Of the total 354 deaths and injuries, he said, 59 resulted from speeding, 16 from drunk driving, 15 from attempts to overtake another vehicle, 14 from reckless driving and three from cases where the driver fell asleep at the wheel.
Brig. Gen Chhin said that 171 motorcycles, 41 cars and seven trucks were damaged over the holiday period.
