HO CHI MINH CITY, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Between January and May, 7,490 traffic accidents occurred in Vietnam, killing 3,476 people, severely injuring 1,988 people and lightly hurting 3,774 others, the country's Traffic Police Department said Tuesday.

The numbers of traffic accidents, deaths and slight injuries caused by the accidents decreased by 5.7 percent, 0.4 percent, and 18 percent, respectively, against the same period last year. However, the number of severe injuries climbed up by 0.3 percent.

On average, in the first five months of this year, Vietnam saw 50 traffic accidents each day which claimed 23 lives and injured 38 people.

Last year, 20,280 traffic accidents happened in Vietnam, claiming 8,279 lives, severely injuring 5,587 people and slightly hurting 11,453 others, said the department.