Accidents kill 100,000 Chinese children each year

Beijing, May 31: Accidents kill 100,000 Chinese children a year, with roads and drowning claiming the majority of lives as families struggle to adjust to rapid urbanisation, the official Xinhua agency said.

Accidents including animal attacks and simple falls also handicap nearly half a million others, according to a report from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Road-building programmes and changes in transportation as China's cities boom are to blame for the rising accident toll because they increased the risks children faced each day, Xinhua quoted a government committee on child welfare as saying.

China topped the world list of road deaths and accidents last year, with nearly 99,000 people killed in 450,000 accidents.

Reuters>