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Road terror: 94 killed in nine days
View(s):At least 94 people were killed and 150 seriously hurt in road traffic accidents during the past nine days and police attributed most of the tragedies to reckless and drunken driving. In addition, another 243 people suffered minor injuries and were discharged from hospitals after treatment, a senior police officer said yesterday.
He said 1,631 motorists were also booked for drunken driving during this same period and the bulk of them were motorcyclists numbering 900 followed by three-wheeler operators numbering 563.
In the latest road tragedy, five people, including three women, were drowned after their van plunged into the Datagamuwa Lake in Kataragama early yesterday, police said. A five-year-old boy survived after he was rescued by bystanders, they said. The vehicle was running from Kandy to Kataragama when the tragedy took place and police believe that the driver had fallen asleep at the wheel.
In a similar incident in Polonaruwa on Friday afternoon, 10 people were drowned and several injured when the hand tractor they were travelling in plunged into a canal. The tractor loaded with 22 people who had visited relatives for the National New Year went over a bund and plunged into the swirling waters at Aralaganwila.