Fewer road accidents in Idul Fitri

SURABAYA: Thanks to an intensified Ketupat traffic operation, the number of traffic accidents during the five-day Idul Fitri holiday in East Java decreased by almost 45 percent to 198 from 358 in the same period last year, according to the Police.

Director of the provincial Police's traffic affairs division Sr. Comr. Bambang Sukamto said Tuesday that the 13-day traffic and security operation had begun on Sept. 23 and had deployed more than 10,000 police personnel with standard equipment. This contributed to the decreased number of traffic accidents and the relative order and security the province experienced during the holiday.

"The death toll was only 76, down by 36.6 percent from 120 in 2007 and the number of injured victims was only 66, down by almost 50 percent from 131 in 2007," he said.

The police will evaluate this year's operation in order to revise the system and to reduce the number of traffic accidents in the coming years, he said. --JP