People search for victims of a boat accident on February 25 in the Vu Gia River in the central province of Quang Nam (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The number of deaths due to inland waterway trafficaccidents in the first half of this year nearly doubled the figure of the sameperiod last year.
According to the National Committee for Traffic Safety, between December 15,2019, and June 14, 2020, 38 inland waterway accidents were reported,leading to 33 deaths with nine other people injured.
Compared with the same period last year, the number of accidents,fatalities and injuries increased by 13 cases, 17 deaths and one injuredvictim, respectively.
“The situation of inland waterway traffic got worse, reaching an alarminglevel,” said the committee.
According to the committee’s data, deadly inland waterwayaccidents usually happened with households’ vessels.
For example, a boat overturned on the Tra Ly River in thenorthern province of Thai Binh on January 6, killing two people.
On February 15, three people died when their boat overturned on the La Ma Riverin the central province of Thua Thien-Hue. When the accident happened, 12people were on board.
On February 25, six people died due to another overturned boat on the Vu GiaRiver in the central province of Quang Nam.
According to reports by local authorities, a major cause of the accidents issubstandard boats that don't meet technical requirements and are unregistered.
People used self-made vehicles to travel and carry goods,often without life jackets or other safety equipment.
Transport expert Nguyen Van Thanh, former chairman of the VietnamAutomobile Transport Association, said overloading, overcrowding, lack of safetyequipment were major causes of inland waterway accidents.
“Insufficient communication and punishments for violations that are not strictenough to be a deterrent are at the root of the accidents,” Thanh said.
“It’s time to deploy stricter punishments and increase publicunderstanding about the issue,” he said.
The National Committee for Traffic Safety has asked its branchesin localities to tighten inspections and crack down on violations.
Violations relating to the volume of goods, the number of passengersor the absence of safety equipment on vehicles will be punished strictly.
The committee will also speed up a campaign on developing atraffic culture for safe waterways.
In contrast to inland waterway traffic, roads and railwayssaw a drop of accident cases, fatalities and injuries in the first half of thisyear, largely due to social distancing measures reducing traffic.
Accordingly, as many as 3,775 road accidents were reported,killing 3,165 people and injuring 1,918 others. Compared with those of the sameperiod of last year, the cases reduced by 523, the number of deaths reduced by573 and the number of injured victims reduced by 371.
On railways, the number of accidents was 44, the fatalities 37 and the injuriesnine in the last six months. Compared with the same period of last year,the number of accidents, fatalities and injuries reduced by 31, 16 and 21respectively./.
VNA
