Living in Peru : your everyday companion

(LIP-ir) -- Chief of Peru's Highway Protection Directorate, Colonel Victor Ordinola Ruiz reported that Cusco was the region in the country that had the most number of deaths due to highway accidents. Up until November 7, it was reported that there had been 49 traffic accidents in the region.

Peru's National Police Colonel reported that up until the day of the report, in the 49 accidents that had taken place in Cusco, 74 people had been killed while another 290 had been injured.

Colonel Victor Ordinola Ruiz told Peru's Andina News Agency, "These statistics make Cusco the region with the highest number of deaths."

After the report was issued, Peru's highway police reported that two more accidents took place in the region, which is 1650 kilometers (1025 miles) southeast of Peru's capital, Lima.

The fist accident took place on the seventh kilometer of Cusco-Urubamba highway. One person was killed while two others were injured. Twelve people were injured in the second accident, which took place on Arequipa-Cusco highway in the province of Espinar.

Ordinola also reported that the regions which follow Cusco in their rate of highway accident deaths are La Libertad, with 62 deaths and Puno, with 60 deaths. Chupaca, Junin reported that 50 people were killed in traffic accidents while Arequipa, Ica and La Oroya, Junin reported 49, 47 and 39 deaths.

According to the police report issued on November 7, seven hundred and thirty six people have died in traffic accidents in Peru and another four thousand four hundred and twenty eight have been injured in a total of one thousand six hundred and fifty one traffic accidents.