More than 90,000 people were killed in road and fire mishaps in China in 2006, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security said.

 The number of road traffic deaths in China was 89,455 last year, 9.4 per cent fewer than that in 2005, and the first time below the 90,000-benchmark since 2000.

The country recorded 378,781 traffic accidents in 2006, down 15.9 per cent year on year, a ministry spokesman said on Monday.

The 38 major traffic accidents -- mishaps with more than ten fatalities each -- resulted in 558 deaths, dropping 30.9 per cent from 2005. It was the lowest number of major accidents since 1991, he said.

According to an analytical report, about 130 million violations of traffic rules by drivers last year led to more than 76,000 deaths, down 16 per cent, among which the death toll from speeding, fatigue and drunk driving went down 24 per cent from the previous year.

Meanwhile, 1,517 people died and 1,418 were injured in nearly 223,000 fires in the country last year, the spokesman said.

The number of fires decreased by 5.6 per cent from the previous year, the death toll down by 39.3 per cent and the number of injured dropped by 43.5 per cent, a spokesman for the ministry's fire control bureau said.

Fires caused USD 98 million in losses, down 42.6 per cent over 2005, he said.

Fire control in rural area was further strengthened, with nearly 74,000 fires, about one third of the total, occurred in the countryside last year, which saw a big drop over 2005, the bureau said.