VIENTIANE, April 19 (Xinhua) -- As many as 159 road accidents occurred across Laos during three days of the Lao New Year holiday, resulting in 22 fatalities, according to the traffic police department of the Ministry of Public Security.
Drunk driving was recognized as a major cause of accidents along with speeding.
The majority of fatalities during the April 14-16 period involved young people, Lao state-run media Vientiane Times quoted the traffic police department as saying on Wednesday.
Laos has a high rate of road accidents compared to other countries in the region with motorbikes involved in 95 percent of all vehicular accidents and males making up 90 percent of the fatalities, according to Lao traffic police.
In 2016, as many as 1,086 people were killed in 5,616 road accidents across the country, representing a significant rise compared to 2015 when 995 people were killed in 5,571 road accidents.
