Bulletin #3 from the Emergency Operations Center (COE) issued yesterday, Wednesday 25 December reported 28 deaths during the Christmas celebrations between Monday 23 December, at 2pm and 8pm on Christmas day, as reported. Last year there were 26 deaths. All the victims died in traffic accidents, 385 of the injured in the accidents. Some 119 persons were assisted for alcohol intoxication, including 29 minors. There were reports of 11 persons affected by food intoxication.
According to the COE, from the start of the operation they received reports of 387 traffic accidents, in which 96 trucks, 835 motorcycles, 189 light vehicles were involved, the report said. Motorcyclists were present in 52% of the accidents, including 14 of the deaths.
On the question of heavy vehicles, COE director General Juan Manuel Mendez admits that they will need to step up their efforts for the second phase of the operation beginning on 30 December and lasting until 1 January. “We have discussed this with General Juan Brown from AMET, because there is a rule for heavy vehicles which they have to be very strict about,” said Mendez, referring to the fact that the 6 deaths involved heavy trucks, “none of which were carrying food or fuel.” AMET seized 1,319 vehicles for alleged violations of the traffic laws, mostly motorcycles without the required legal documents. The provinces where most accidents were registered were the National District, Santo Domingo, San Cristobal, and San Jose de Ocoa in the southwest, as well as San Pedro de Macoris, Maria Trinidad Sanchez and Santiago in the north.
Typical accidents over the holidays included a crash between a car and a tank truck on the highway between Navarrete and Imbert, which took the lives of three people and left a fourth passenger hanging by a thread, according to the doctors. Two of the victims were police officers.
In the province of Puerto Plata three people died in traffic accidents. One of the victims lived in the Padre Granero sector of the tiny town of Mamey de los Hidalgos. The victim was on his motorcycle when he was struck by a car and died on the way to the Pedro Limardo Hospital in Puerto Plata. The driver of the other vehicle was beaten by a mob of people who witnessed the accident and wanted to lynch the driver, who was eventually rescued by the local Police. Another victim in the same town was killed when his motorcycle hit a pickup truck. The third person killed was the victim of a hit-and-run accident in the San Marcos sector of Puerto Plata.
http://coe.gov.do/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=630:boletin-no-03-operativo-navidad-2013&catid=8:boletin&Itemid=45
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/2013/12/26/i416965_coe-muertos-517-afectados-durante-primera-fase-operativo-navideao.html