May Day death toll on the roads rises to 56 02/05/2006 00:00

2 May 2006

MADRID — Traffic accidents claimed 56 lives on Spanish roads over the May Day public holiday, authorities said.

Between Friday afternoon and Tuesday night, another 28 people were seriously hurt.

Eighteen suffered minor injuries in a total of 28 accidents.

On Monday, five people were killed in five separate accidents and 16 others were injured.

In one crash in Ciudad Real, one person was killed and three others were seriously injured.

Spanish traffic authorities said Spaniards made 6.7 million journeys made over the May Day holiday – a rise of ten percent on the previous year.

The worst traffic jam stretched for up 28 kilometres.

Generally, traffic across Spain slowed to gridlock in many parts of the country as Spaniards tried to get away and return from the quick break.

The death toll comes after 108 people lost their lives on the Spanish roads over Easter.

But the May Day figure included deaths on Tuesday as it was still a holiday in the Madrid region.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news