A ceremony was held in Hanoi on November 21 to commemorate people who lost their lives in traffic accidents.

The event, organised by the National Traffic Safety Committee, the Vietnam Television, and Toyota Vietnam, took place in response to the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (November 21).

On behalf of the Government and the Prime Minister, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh expressed the deepest condolences to families of traffic accident victims in Vietnam, calling on all people to join hands to assist and help ease the pain caused by traffic accidents for victims and their families.

Appealing for actions for the safety of the living, he asked all organisations, collectives, religions, and people to seriously comply with traffic rules so as to create a truly safe and friendly traffic environment.

At the event, participants observed one-minute silence in remembrance of the dead victims.

Every year, traffic accidents kill nearly 1.3 million people and injure 50 million others around the world, according to the latest report by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Vietnam records nearly 7,000 deaths and more than 11,000 people suffering from lifelong injuries due to traffic accidents each year. The number of traffic-related deaths has topped 5,000 in the first 11 months of this year.

Source: Vietnam News Agency