A Tehran city official reports that traffic accidents claim the lives of five children on a daily basis in Iran.

The Shahr News Agency reports that Alireza Soleymani, the deputy head of Tehran transportation and traffic, said on Tuesday: “Of the 5,324 pedestrians that died in traffic accidents in 2010 in the country, 1,713 were children under the age of 10.”

He maintained that a third of the pedestrians that are killed across the country annually are children under the age of 10.

According to official statistics, traffic accidents in Iran claim one life every 24 minutes, and between 20,000 and 30,000 people die each year in traffic accidents.

After cardiovascular diseases, traffic accidents are the top cause of death in Iran.

International statistics indicate that 1.2 million people die each year in traffic accidents around the world, and 50 million are wounded.

Source : Radio Zamaneh