Vientiane Rescue Teams Report On Road Carnage
Vientiane’s three rescue teams have reported on the number of road accidents they attended, and the fatality figures, from January 1 to December 29, 2015.
Combined figures from the Lao Red Cross, Association of Voluntary Rescue of Vientiane and the Foundation for Assisting Poor People of the Lao PDR showed that 270 people lost their lives in the capital for the year up to and including December 29.
The three teams serving the public will calculate their full year’s totals early next month.
Their figures follow the recent release of official statistics for January to October from the Traffic Police Department which showed that Vientiane had again topped the national list with 1,176 accidents, including 193 fatalities, 1,603 people injured and some 2,313 vehicles also sustaining damage.
While the rescue teams’ eventual full year figures may vary from those provided by the traffic police due to different statistical methods the general trend suggests that accident numbers are on the increase.
A volunteer with the Foundation for Assisting the Poor People of the Lao PDR, Ms Paekky Sisavath, told Vientiane Times on Thursday that from January 1 to December 29, her team attended 5,760 road accidents where 5,980 people sustained injuries and 150 were killed.
A rescue team member with the Lao Red Cross, Ms Noutthaya Sengphachan, reported that in the same period her team attended 1,400 road accidents in the capital in which 2,314 people sustained injuries and 88 people were killed.
The Association of Voluntary Rescue of Vientiane reported that from January 1 to December 29 the team attended 837 road accidents that caused 32 fatalities and 994 people to be injured.
Unfortunately, paramedics from the three Vientiane rescue teams reported that most of the accidents they attended involved at least one or more of the parties being drunk.
Rescue teams in Vientiane are provided by the Foundation for Assisting Poor People of the Lao PDR (1623), Lao Red Cross (Phone 020-59966111) and Association of Voluntary Rescue of Vientiane (1624). Phone lines are open 24 hours a day.
Source: Vientiane Times
