Road accidents claim 400 lives within 10 weeks

By Darshana Sanjeewa Balasuriya  

Nearly 400 deaths have been reported due to road accidents within ten weeks from January 2021, police said.   
Accordingly, a total of 379 persons were killed in 369 fatal accidents reported across the country since January 2021 till the first week of March.   

The number of minor accidents and serious accidents reported during the period were 1,939 and 789 respectively.   
During the past week several road traffic accidents were reported from different places and the most deadly one took place on March 20 where 14 passengers were killed and 33 others were injured in a bus accident at the 13th mile post on the Moneragala-Badulla Road at Passara.   Meanwhile, the police said a total of 2,141 persons were killed in 2,040 fatal accidents during last year alone.   

Among them, a majority of the deceased were motorcyclists.   Accordingly, a total of 803 motorcycle riders died in accidents while 538 pedestrians also became the victims of road accidents.

   
In addition, 263 passengers, 196 drivers, 159 cyclists and 147 pillion riders were killed. A total of 8,909 minor accidents and 6,619 serious accidents were reported last year.   
The number of accidents which caused damages were 5,817.