A total of 98 people died and 423 others were injured in 142 road accidents across Turkey during the nine-day-long Eid al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) holiday, the Muslim festival also known as Qurban Bayram, despite new measures taken to ensure road safety, the Interior Ministry announced.

Axar.az reports citing Turkish media.

The death toll is expected to rise as most of the travelers, an estimated 7 million people, hit the road to return to big cities from the country's southern, northern and central areas.

To ensure safety and monitor traffic violations, more than 52,000 police and gendarmerie troops were deployed across Turkey throughout the holiday.

For the holiday season, the Turkish Interior Ministry has partnered with Yandex, a leading road navigation app in Turkey, to warn drivers of road conditions. The ministry delivered warning messages to drivers via the app for 1,800 spots across the country, all of which have a high rate of accidents. The app popped up a warning message when drivers entered a route with a high accident rate.

Authorities have also launched a new campaign to raise awareness to prevent traffic accidents that claim thousands of lives every year in the country.