Idul Fitri exodus claims 548 lives

Wed, 10/08/2008 10:26 AM  |  National

JAKARTA: At least 548 people have died in traffic accidents during this year's Idul Fitri exodus, the National Police reported Tuesday.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Abubakar Nataprawira said the period had seen 1,181 traffic accidents involving 1,426 motorcycles, 394 cars, 110 buses and 191 trucks. The data was gathered by the police from Sept. 25 to Oct. 5.

"In the accidents, 702 people were seriously injured, while 1,162 suffered minor injuries," he said. "The total material losses was estimated at Rp 3.9 trillion (US$402 million)."

The figures are lower than last year's holiday period tallies of 1,875 accidents, 798 deaths and 2,986 injuries.

During this year's period, the police ticketed 37,282 motorists.

"The highest number of traffic violations went to motorcyclists with 25,777, followed by car drivers with 7,446; truck drivers with 2,815 and bus drivers with 1,244," Abubakar said. Some 121 hit-and-run cases were reported during the exodus, he added. -- JP

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.