China reports less accident casualties during Lunar New Year holiday

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-02-20 17:20

China saw 7,480 fires across the country this Spring Festival holiday, which killed 35 people and led to direct losses worth 28.5 million yuan (US$4.17 million), the Ministry of Public Security said Saturday.

The death toll caused by fires from February 12 to the noon of February 19 was ?nearly halved from the year before, and no one fire accident killed more than three or seriously injured more than 10, said the ministry.

The figures do not include fires in forests, grasslands and mines nor those relating to the armed forces.

China's fire authorities intensified patrols and security checks during Spring Festival when the largest number of residential fires occurs due to fireworks being set off.

The country's fire police dispatched more than 180,000 fire fighters and rescued 1,585 stranded people during the holiday.

Also, the seven-day holiday saw the number of road accidents, as well as the death toll and property losses caused by traffic accidents down by 25.2 percent, 35.2 percent and 14.1 percent year on year respectively, the ministry said.

As many as 1,653 road accidents were reported during last year's Spring Festival from January 25 to January 31, which resulted in 724 fatalities.