YANGON, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- A total of 21 people were killed with 61 injured in connection with 22 traffic accident cases on Myanmar's Yangon-Mandalay highway as of Oct. 14, according to the highway police force Monday.

Over-speeding, reckless driving, defective vehicles and flat tire were blamed for these accidents between Oct. 1 and Oct.14.

As traffic accidents are frequent on Myanmar's highway, the transport authorities are working to reduce such traffic accidents by taking strict actions against over-speeding for public safety.

A total of 116 people died of the accident on the country's Yangon-Mandalay highway in connection with 555 traffic accident cases with 863 injured last year.

The 587 km-long highway, connecting the country's commercial city Yangon and the second largest city of Mandalay was opened to reduce the travel time between the two major cities in December 2010.