More than 97,000 people died of preventable injuries in the United States last year, according to Injury Facts 2001, the National Safety Council's (NSC) annual report of injury statistics, which was released this month.

The new edition of Injury Facts, which includes a Home and Community section, reports that unintentional injuries are the fifth leading cause of death in the United States, exceeded only by heart disease, cancer, stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. In 2000, 29,500 people died from unintentional injuries in the home and community, 9,300 of them from falls.