By Brightwell Chabusha

A total of 532 people were killed in 8,407 road traffic accidents which were recorded during the second quarter of 2021 countrywide.

According to a statement issued by deputy police spokesperson Danny Mwale 455 accidents out of the 8, 407 were fatal and 784 were serious.

“During the second quarter of 2021, a total number of 8,407 Road Traffic Accidents (RTA) were recorded out of which 455 were fatal in which 532 persons were killed, 784 were serious RTAs in which 1,365 persons were seriously injured, 1,642 were slight injury RTAs in which 2,474 persons were slightly injured. 5,526 were recorded as Damages only RTAs. Lusaka Province recorded the highest number of RTAs with 4,638 followed by Copperbelt with 1,286 whilst Northern Province recorded the least with 147 RTAs,” Mwale stated.

He stated that the statistics for the second quarter of 2021 have increased by 2,264 RTAs compared to 6, 143 RTA which was recorded in the second quarter of 2020.

“In the second quarter of 2020, 275 fatal RTAs were recorded in which 332 persons were killed as compared to 455 fatal RTAs where 532 persons were killed in the second quarter of 2021. The records show an increase in fatal RTAs by 180 and an increase in persons killed by 200. And 565 serious RTAs were recorded in the second quarter of 2020 in which 1,016 persons were seriously injured as compared to 784 serious RTAs where 1,365 persons were seriously injured in the second quarter of 2021. The figures show an increase in both serious road traffic accidents and persons injured by 219 and 349 persons seriously injured. 1,284 were recorded as slight injury RTAs in the second quarter of 2020 in which 1,770 persons were slightly injured as compared to 1,642 slight road traffic accidents where 2,474 persons were slightly injured in the second quarter of 2021. The record shows an increase in slight Injury RTAs by 358 and 704 persons slightly injured respectively,” Mwale stated.

He stated that on damage only RTAs, 5,526 were recorded in this year’s second quarter as compared to 4,019 recorded in 2020 same period.