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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, April 06, 2002

Iran's New Year Holidays See Death Toll of 407 in Road Accidents

Iran's Norouz new year holidays starting on March 21 have so far claimed some 407 lives in road accidents throughout the country, the official IRNA news agency reported Saturday.


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Iran's Norouz new year holidays starting on March 21 have so far claimed some 407 lives in road accidents throughout the country, the official IRNA news agency reported Saturday.

Iran's Red Crescent Society (RCS) was quoted as saying that the death toll together with 3,408 injured is related to a span of 16 days, which have witnessed 3,057 cases of car accidents.

This year's Norouz coincided with the month of Moharram in which Shia Muslims mourn the martyrdom of Imam Hussein about 1,300 years ago.

The high fatalities came as a result of heavy traffic jams, as many Iranians were heading for merrymaking or family reunion at the advent of the new year.

Iranian roads are among the most hazardous in the world. Some 200,000 accidents are recorded annually in the country, killing an average of 15,000 people and injuring 87,000 others.

The accidents are mainly attributed to dilapidated vehicles, careless driving and insufficient emergency road assistance.


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