The Malawi Police Services has disclosed that at least 16 people have died from 121 road accidents that happened during the Easter Holiday period, a rise from the eight who died from the same period last year.

According to the National Police Deputy  Public Relations Officer Peter Kalaya, last year 65 road accidents were recorded during the Easter period.

Kalaya further disclosed that out of 121 accidents recorded over the period this year, 9 people sustained serious injuries and are currently receiving medical help.

Kalaya however was quick to point out that most of the road accidents occurred due to failure to observe road tracking rules and regulations such as overspeeding while urging the general public to take caution during festive celebrations.

“Most of these road accidents happened because of overspeeding and the involved motorists,” said Kalaya.

Reports show that from the recorded 121 road accidents, 4 were serious road accidents and 15 were fatal road accidents while in 2020 they were 7 serious road accidents where 9 people were seriously injured.

Commenting on the development Loveness Imani, a Catholic University-based Social Commentator said the trend will be as a result of external factors while citing being deprived of public gatherings for a long time due to Covid 19 surge.

“From last year to this year we have been going through the Covid 19 pandemic and numbers of new infections have been reducing and this excites people to start moving,” said Imani.

Meanwhile, the Malawi Police Service is yet to release a report on criminal offenses record during the same period.