China's road death toll hits 1,171 over holidays

BEIJING, Oct 8 (Reuters) Traffic accidents killed 1,171 people during China's week-long National Day holiday, a drop of 43 percent from last year, Xinhua news agency reported.

Only one of the 3,635 traffic accidents logged by last evening - 50 percent fewer than last year - killed more than 10 people, Xinhua quoted the Ministry of Public Security as saying.

More than 150 million Chinese were estimated to be travelling during the holiday.

China's roads are the deadliest in the world. Nearly 90,000 people died in traffic accidents last year.

Reuters ARB VP0858