Eid al-Fitr traffic deaths rise to 73: Report

ISTANBUL

Some 73 people lost their lives and 754 people were injured on the roads during the first eight days of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

The agency said their number included the data starting from the end of the business day on May 31 to 4 p.m. on June 8.

In an effort to avoid traffic jams, many travelers who left their cities for vacation already started the journey home on Friday and Saturday before the end of nine-day-long holiday.

Traffic police squads were deployed across the country during the holiday, often conducting inspections to enforce traffic laws.

Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, was scheduled to officially start on June 4 and end on June 6. But Turkish authorities signed a circular declaring that June 3 (a Monday) and June 7 (a Friday) would also be holidays, effectively creating a nine-day public holiday, including the two weekends.

The number of people who traveled during this holiday is estimated to be over 5 million, according to tourism players.

Osman Ayık, the head of the Turkish Hoteliers Federation (TÜROFED), had previously said that of the 5 million people, the majority were expected to travel to their hometowns to spend the holiday with their families, while 300,000-400,000 would likely flock to coastal cities or sightseeing sites.