Holiday road toll: four deaths per hour

BANGKOK (AFP): More than 500 people were killed across Thailand, mostly in road accidents, during six days of revelry marking the New Year holiday, the health ministry said this morning. The holiday death toll was 18 percent higher than expected, with 541 deaths between last Thursday and late yesterday, it said in a statement. Some 391 of them were the result of road crashes. Some 46,375 people were injured, with 23,623 of them hurt in road accidents, the ministry said, adding that there were an average of 219 accidents and four deaths per hour. On New Year’s Eve day alone, there were 6,657 injuries and 107 deaths, compared to 5,095 injuries and 80 deaths on the same day last year. Heath Minister Surdarat Keyuraphan said drunk driving was the biggest cause of accidents during the New Year celebrations.