At least 58 people were killed and around 500 injured in the traffic accidents during the four-day Ramadan holiday between Saturday last week and yesterday. With millions on the road yesterday on their way back home, the figure is sure to rise.

Twenty-five people were killed in collisions on Saturday, the first day of the holiday when traffic is especially congested and drivers are more accident prone. On Sunday and Monday, the first two days of the Ramadan holiday, another 27 people were killed in traffic across the country. Early yesterday, six more people were killed.

With many back at work today, there was significant congestion on highways going toward major cities starting in the early afternoon yesterday, and it is expected to last throughout the night.Traffic police on the road trying to prevent accidents are finding alternative ways to keep drivers alert. In Giresun on the Black Sea coast, police stopped cars and offered tea to drivers. Those in Tokat in central Anatolia, offered drivers a short exercise on the side of the road.

Meanwhile, on the D-100 highway, where opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu is using one lane on his march for justice from Ankara to Istanbul. Kılıçdaroğlu yesterday had reached Düzce, around 220 kilometers east of Istanbul. During the walk, a motorcyclist hit a police officer accompanying Kılıçdaroğlu's march. The injured officer was taken to a nearby hospital and is reportedly in stable condition.