More than 78,000 traffic accidents in the first three months of the year have claimed the lives of more than 18,000 people and injured 93,000 others, the Ministry of Public Security said on Monday.

The numbers of accidents were down 21.5 percent, deaths declined 13.2 percent and the number of people injured dropped 20.2 percent compared with the same period in 2005, said the ministry.

Five serious traffic accidents - accidents involving the deaths of ten or more - killed 79 people. The number of serious accidents was five less than the same period of 2005, according to the ministry.

Among the five serious traffic accidents, four were involved buses. More than 68 percent of road accidents involved collisions with other vehicles.

Speeding was the main cause of the motor vehicle accidents, accounting for 14.4 percent of the death toll, according to the ministry.

(Xinhua News Agency April 3, 2007)