Algeria: 400 students killed in traffic accidents last academic year

Nearly 400 students have died in home-to-school accidents during the last academic year, a report by the state-run National Centre for Prevention and Road Safety (NCPRS) revealed yesterday.

“During the last academic year, between September 2017 and June 2018, 392 children under the age of 14 were reported dead, while another 5,189 were injured,” NCPRS said.

“Most of the victims were killed on the road from their homes to schools and vice versa,” the government organisation explained.

As a result, NCPRS launched an awareness campaign, dubbed “Think about your children, reduce your speed,” calling for children protection from traffic accidents and highlighting the dangers of the phenomenon.

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In 2017, NCPRS pointed out, 3,500 people were killed in road accidents across the country’s provinces.

According to the official data, such accidents cost the government 100 million Algerian dinars ($1 billion) annually, including the victims’ compensations.