A total of 1,280 people were killed in road accidents across China during the week-long May Day holiday, a spokesman with the Ministry of Public Security said on Thursday.

The death toll was 24.3 percent lower than that of last year.

There were 4,449 traffic accidents, down 37.2 percent from last year, the spokesman said.

Ninety people were killed in the nine most serious accidents, seven of which happened between May 4 to 7, said the spokesman.

A light truck ploughed into a crowd of people waiting for a bus in Yunnan Province on May 4, killing 16. On May 7, a coach plunged off a highway into a valley in Guizhou Province, leaving 18 dead.

According to official figures, China witnessed a record high of 179 million domestic tourists during this year's holiday.

(Xinhua News Agency May 11, 2007)