Bhubaneswar, Feb 7: Odisha witnessed marginal increase in road accident deaths in 2019, revealed the latest report of the State Transport Authority (STA).

As per the report 5333 people were killed in road mishaps in the state in 2019. The number of road fatalities stood at 5315 in 2018.

Officials said that the number of accident cases has decreased in 2019 as compared to 2019. While as many as 11064 accident cases were reported in 2019, the number of accidents in 2018 was 11262.

“Districts such as Boudh, Rayagada, Deogarh, Mayurbhanj,Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Sundargarh witnesses 10 perecent increase in road fatalities while districts such as Angul, Nayagarh, Gajapati, Sambalpur, Cuttack and Bargarh witnesses 10 percent decrease in road fatalities in 2019,” said an official.

Transport officials further said that the number of fatalities decreased after the amended MV Act came in to effect from September.

“The number of fatalities decreased by 12 percent in September, 18.7 percent in October, 6.6 percent in November and 26.9 percent in December 2019,” added the official.