BEIJING - Some 4,955 alleged train-ticket scalpers had been detained or arrested by police by Tuesday and officers had confiscated 31,000 tickets with a face value of more than 5 million yuan ($759,000), according to the Ministry of Public Security.

A statement on the ministry's website on Wednesday said police across the country had been working hard to target scalpers who prey on desperate would-be travelers during the busy Spring Festival travel season.

The statement said officers had broken up 1,060 ticket-scalping rings during 45 days of a crackdown that began on Dec 25.

The number of scalpers rounded up during this year's campaign is down from the 8,000 captured last year during a campaign that lasted for about a month.

Hundreds of millions of Chinese people travel across the country during the annual holiday in order to be with their families in their hometowns.

Police officers also targeted people driving under the influence of alcohol and those behind the wheel of overloaded vehicles and other road safety hazards during the holiday.

According to a statement released by the ministry on Monday, major road accidents had claimed the lives of 44 people in China since Feb 2, the eve of the Chinese New Year.

According to the Monday statement, six road accidents, each with at lease five fatalities, were reported nationwide between Feb 2 and 7.

Most cases involved small vehicles in head-on collisions.

Xinhua - China Daily

(China Daily 02/10/2011 page3)