Traffic accidents killed 390 people in China from Jan. 7 to Jan. 28, the country's Spring Festival travel season, sources from the Ministry of Public Security announced Thursday.

The 390 victims were killed in a total of 46 traffic accidents during the Spring Festival peak tour season. The accidents also left 509 people injured.

The sources from the Traffic Control Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security said the death toll increased by 205 people, or 111 percent from the same period last year, and the number of injured people increased by 279 people, or 121 percent from the same period last year.

The sources blamed the rise of traffic accidents during the Spring Festival on speeding, overloading and illegally overtaking.
 
(People's Daily January 30, 2004)