A requiem for the peace of the souls of traffic accident victims was held at the Viet Nam Buddhism Academy in Ha Noi on Saturday.





The event was part of activities held in response to World Day of Remembrance for Victims of Road Traffic Accidents, which falls on the third Sunday of November.

At the ceremony, hundreds of Buddhist monks, nuns and relatives of victims gathered to pray for the peace of the victims and raise awareness of the serious consequences that traffic accidents have, thus raising public understanding and observance of traffic laws.

At the requiem, Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang expressed his sympathy to the families of victims. He called for people of all walks of life to abide by traffic regulations and safety, and share the loss suffered by victims' families.

This year has seen an average of 25 people die each day on Viet Nam 's roads – a 17 per cent reduction on previous years.

In the first nine months of 2012, 23,200 traffic accidents were reported across the country, causing 6,657 deaths and 2,681 injuries.

In Viet Nam, over 17,700 road accidents occurred each year in the 2000-11 period, killing 11,600 people and injuring more than 16,000, according to statistics from the National Traffic Safety Committee.

































VNS/VNE/VNN