Turkey: 86 die in traffic accidents in Eid holiday

By Hikmet Faruk Baser

ISTANBUL (AA) - At least 86 people died in several traffic accidents during the nine-day national holiday of Eid al-Fitr to celebrate the end of Islamic holy month of Ramadan across Turkey, a senior official said.

The death toll was recorded in 73 road accidents in 39 provinces over the last nine days, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said in Istanbul.

He pointed 51.5% decrease in the death toll resulted from traffic accidents compared to the last ten years.

A total of 185,000 traffic police and gendarmeries were deployed across the country during the holiday to reduce the number of potential accidents, Soylu added.

Many people in Turkey took the highways to spend the vacation with their families or at coastal resorts when the country observed a nine-day holiday between June 1 and 9 to celebrate Eid al-Fitr -- which marks the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.