Sana'a, Yemen  - At least 88 people were killed and 582 others injured in traffic accidents in Yemen over the Muslim Eid al-Adha festival, police said on Saturday.

The traffic police said in a statement the Arab country's roads witnessed 360 accidents during the period from December 4 to 12.

The figure is nearly double the number of fatalities during the Eid al-Fitr festivities two months ago, when 48 people died in road accidents nationwide.

Excessive speed, recklessness and chewing the mild stimulant drug of qat by drivers, were to blame for those accidents, the statement said.

Traffic accidents claim the lives of around 3,000 people in Yemen every year, according to official figures.

In the first eight months this year, 1,477 people were killed and 9,879 injured in accidents across the country.

In 2007, a total of 2,927 people died and over 15,000 others injured in car accidents.

Some 34,892 people were killed and more than 209,000 injured in road accidents in Yemen during the period from 1990 to 2006, according to figures published by the traffic police. (dpa)