Up to 725 traffic accidents have been reported over the New Year’s holiday in Brazil, killing 56 people and injuring 903 others, the Federal Highway Police said Tuesday.
The fatalities were 25 percent lower than a year earlier, the police said in a statement.
The New Year holiday, along with Carnival, is Brazil’s busiest tourism period, it said.
A special road safety operation was launched to combat drunk driving and authorities have thereafter arrested 383 people and seized 557 kg of marijuana, it said.