China's public security authority is calling for more caution as a spate of traffic accidents took place around the traditional Chinese Lunar New Year holiday.

The Ministry of Public Security issued an emergency notice Monday, saying that 10 traffic accidents with each claiming five lives or more were reported by local traffic authorities between Jan. 18 and 25.

On Jan. 18, a car collided with a mini-bus in China's northeastern province of Liaoning, leaving six dead and 27 others injured.

A tractor carrying 25 people overturned on Jan. 25 due to brake failure in east China's Shandong Province, killing 18 and leaving seven injured, the ministry said.

A farm vehicle overturned Monday morning leaving 24 dead in southwest China's Yunnan Province, the ministry said in a separate news release.

The ministry blamed overloading and speeding as the main causes for the accidents, calling on local traffic control departments for tougher efforts to curb accidents as tens of millions of people will return to work from family reunions in the next two weeks.

(Xinhua News Agency  January 27, 2004)