198 migrants killed in road accidents amid lockdown: Report
As many as 198 migrant workers lost their lives in road accidents during the COVID-19 lockdown period, according to recent data report by the SaveLIFE Foundation, a road safety NGO.
At least 1,461 accidents took place over the course of the nationwide lockdown, starting from March 25 till May 31 — in which 750 people were killed, including 198 migrant workers, according to the data. 1,390 people got injured due to road accidents in the lockdown period.
Migrant workers have been killed during their efforts to walk back home, comprising 26.4 per cent of the overall deaths during the lockdown whereas, the essential workers comprise 5.3 per cent of the total deaths. The overall deaths involving the other road users stands at 68.3 percent.
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Out of the reported deaths, Uttar Pradesh accounted for over 30 per cent (245) of the total deaths followed by the southern state of Telangana (56), Bihar (43), Madhya Pradesh (56), Maharashtra (36), and Punjab (38).
The SaveLIFE foundation report mentions that the data has been compiled using media-tracking and multi-source verification. Their analysis reveals that around 27 per cent of the victims were migrant workers whereas 5 per cent were the essential workers such as police, doctors, and others.
About 68 per cent of the overall deaths included pedestrians, two-wheelers as well as three-wheelers – who are categorised as Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs).
#RoadCrashes during #lockdownindia. #UPDATE as of 4 pm on May 29, 2020. #RoadSafety pic.twitter.com/OXeSEp0kMO
— Piyush Tewari (@piyushtewarii) May 29, 2020
Piyush Tewari is the CEO of the SaveLIFE foundation. The report by the NGO added that out of the four phases of the nationwide lockdown, the fourth phase was the deadliest in terms of road accident fatalities with 322 deaths (43 per cent) and third phase was the deadliest in particular for the migrant workers.
The third lockdown phase reported 60 per cent of all migrant deaths in road accidents, followed by the fourth phase with 19 percent of the total migrant workers deaths.
