New Delhi, Sep 6 (IANS): At least 17 people died in road accidents every hour in 2016 with the toll totalling to over 1.5 lakh during the year, an official report said on Wednesday.

"During 2016, a total of 480,652 road accidents were reported which caused 150,785 deaths and left 494,624 persons injured in the country," the Road Accidents in India-2016 report released by Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said.

"Thus, on an average 1,317 accidents and 413 accident deaths take place on Indian roads every day or 55 accidents and 17 deaths every hour," it said.

The report added while national highways constitute about two per cent of the total road network of India, they accounted for 29.6 per cent of total road accidents and 34.5 per cent of total number of persons killed. 

Compared to 2015, road accidents on national highways went up from 28.4 per cent to 29.6 per cent. 

"It is a matter of concern that persons killed on national highways remain very high," it said.

Among the vehicle categories, two-wheelers accounted for the highest share in total number of road accidents at 33.8 per cent, up from 28.8 per cent in 2015. The share in number of deaths for two-wheelers also increased from 31.5 per cent in 2015 to 34.8 per cent in 2016, the report added.