VIJAYAWADA: As many as 17,938 people were killed in road accidents and other mishaps in Andhra Pradesh, while 6,465 died by suicide, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report on Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India 2019. The total number of accidents slightly came down to 22,188 in 2019 as against 22,534 in 2018, recording a decrease of 1.5 per cent. As many as 17,938 fatalities were reported in 2019 in other mishaps, as against 16,809 in 2018, recording a rise of 6.7 per cent. As many as 7,984 people died in road accidents. The State stood seventh in the country in accidental deaths.
Of the total 22,188 accidents, 20,677 were road mishaps and the remaining 1,511 were related to train traffic. Visakhapatnam recorded 966 mishaps in 2019 as against 921 in 2018. Vijayawada reported 1,499 cases in 2019 when compared to 1,663 cases in 2018. In the road accidents, 24,620 people were injured. About 355 people died in road accidents in Vijayawada and 1,442 sustained injuries. In Visakhapatnam, 326 people were killed and 827 injured.
Two-wheelers accounted for 60 per cent of the total road accidents. Andhra Pradesh accounted for 4.3 per cent of the total accidental deaths in the country, while it recorded 4.6 per cent (6,465) of the total suicide deaths of 1,39,123 in 2019. The State recorded a 21.5 per cent increase in suicide deaths, compared to 5,319 in 2018.