Both fire and traffic accidents in China declined in the first quarter of this years, Wu Heping, spokesman for Ministry of Public Security, said Tuesday.

At a press conference, Wu said that China reported 68,000 cases of fire in the three months, a decrease of one percent year-on-year. Fires killed 543 people and injured 339, which went down 45.9 percent and 40.4 percent respectively.

Fire also led to a direct loss of property worth 190 million yuan (around 23.75 million U.S. dollars), a decrease of 50.2 percent from the same period last year.

An obvious decrease was also seen in traffic accidents, Wu said. A total of 98,000 traffic accidents took place, down 11.3 percent from the corresponding period of last year, in which 20,961 people died, down 8.5 percent; 115,443 got injured, down one percent. Direct property loss was worth 390 million yuan (48.75 million U.S. dollars), down 18.3 percent.

Source: Xinhua