Between January and October, 426,378 road accidents happened in China, with 87,218 people killed and 391,752 people injured, causing direct property losses of more than 2 billion yuan (US$244 million), according to the latest figures from Chinese Ministry of Public Security (MPS) in Beijing Friday.

The MPS said though the number of road accidents, people injured and direct property losses declined compared with same period last year, the number of people killed rose by 1,618.

In October alone, China's traffic police handled 43,982 cases of road accidents, among which 9,555 people were killed and 44,400people injured, causing direct property losses of 165 million yuan (US$19.9 million), the MPS figures revealed, saying the death toll rose by one percent year-on-year.

October's figures show that small passenger cars are the main killers in road traffic accident with a death toll accounting for 19.3 percent of the total.

Fatal accidents usually occur between 6 pm to 9 pm., making up 20.9 percent of the total, the MPS figures added.

The MPS urged local public security departments to further publicize the importance of traffic security and urged all Chinese people to join in the traffic regulation efforts.

(Xinhua News Agency November 13, 2004)