Tet fights, firecracker and other accidents left dozens dead as thousands were rushed to hospitals during the holiday.
A Health Ministry report on casualties over five days of Vietnam’s Lunar New Year holiday, which began on February 2, said 11 people died in violent incidents and at least 3400 were rushed to emergency wards of hospitals across the nation.
The report also noted that the number of people hospitalised this year due to fights and traffic accidents did not increase over the same period last year, but that of firecracker injuries did.
The day with the highest number of casualties was Wednesday, the second day of Tet, when 734 individuals were admitted to emergency wards after brawls-related injuries. Of these, 435 people had to be admitted as inpatients for further treatment, down 21 percent over the same day last year.
On Friday afternoon, after nine ninth grade students in the central province of Quang Nam went swimming in a local beach, five drowned and one is still missing.
Casualties from work or other causes such as food and alcohol poisoning came up to 13,955, of which 16 people died.
The Vietnamese Lunar New Year holiday typically involves a lot of traveling, drinking and partying as the nation celebrates its most important and biggest holiday.
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