Nine people died in traffic accidents in the first three months of the year, according to the National Statistics Office.

The victims - five drivers and four pedestrians - were eight men and a woman.

A 10th person died early in January but the accident occurred in 2021.

In the same period last year, there had only been one fatality.

The nine fatal accidents comprised: 

• four drivers hitting another vehicle
• a driver crashing into a property
• three pedestrians being hit by a vehicle
• a vehicle hitting a person riding a horse sulky.

The NSO said that the number of traffic accidents in the period - 3,595 - had also increased when compared to the same period last year.

It said the number of casualties increased by 6.2% to 324 and there were 81 people - 44 drivers, 10 passengers and 27 pedestrians/cyclists/others - who were grievously injured. 

The largest number of casualties (59%) involved passenger cars, followed by motorcycles (29.3%) and goods-carrying vehicles (6.5%).

During the period, 13 cyclists were involved in traffic accidents, five of whom suffered grievous injuries. 

The highest incidence of road traffic accidents was registered in Birkirkara with 260 cases, followed by Qormi and Mosta, with 198 and 162 cases respectively.