At least 43 people were killed and another 45 seriously injured in road accidents during the festive season in Mozambique, the Commander General of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) said this Wednesday.
Bernardino Rafael pointed to speeding, drunk driving and poor pedestrian crossings as the main causes of road accidents, asking for collective reflection on the incidents to reduce these rates in the country, especially during the Christmas and New Year celebrations.
“We urge users to reflect on this number of accidents, injuries and deaths,” the commander-general said during a press conference to sum up the festive season in Ressano Garcia, Maputo province.
According to the official, from December until this Wednesday, the period of the Esperanza and Benguera police operations, 41 traffic accidents were recorded, resulting in 43 deaths, 45 serious injuries, 50 minor injuries and property damage. the damage is great.
In addition to road accidents, during the 2023/2024 holiday season, Mozambican police also recorded 17 deaths and two missing people from 12 maritime accidents, the main causes of which were “unseaworthy vessels and intoxicated swimmers.” “.
“We have two missing and we have no hope of finding them, so in practice we have 19 deaths due to drowning and other maritime accidents on our coasts and inland waters,” said Bernardino Rafael.
During the same period, authorities also registered 204 criminal cases, 196 of which were resolved.