Six people die, including three children, when their throats are cut by KITE STRINGS at the Indian festival
- Six people, including three children aged two, three and seven, died at the festival
- Nearly 200 people were injured while flying kites at the Uttarayan festival
- Victims died after the dragons tangled around their necks and slashed throats
Six people, including three children, have died at a festival in India after kite strings cut their throats.
Nearly 200 people were also injured from lacerations and falls while flying kites during aerial duels at the Uttarayan festival in the western state of Gujarat, police said.
The six victims, including two girls, ages two and three, and a seven-year-old boy, died after the razor-sharp cords used by “kite hunters” during mid-air duels tangled around their necks, cutting their throats had.
Hundreds of people had taken part in “kite fights” at the international festival over the weekend, with revelers soaring their kites from their terraces and rooftops during the deadly contests.
The goal of the competition is to fell down other kites with kite line during a dogfight. However, this can be deadly for spectators and participants as the cable is reinforced with metal and sometimes powdered glass, making it sharp enough to cut through human skin or even electrical wires.
Hundreds of people attended the International Kite Festival over the weekend, with revelers all flying kites from terraces and rooftops. Pictured: Families stand on rooftops while flying kites in the city of Ahmedabad on Saturday
Six people, including three children, have died at a festival in India after kite strings cut their throats. Pictured: Kitists fly a giant kite during the International Kite Festival at Dholera near Ahmedabad in the western Indian state of Gujarat, India on Thursday
But as the revelers flew their kites, some of the kite strings became tangled around the necks of six victims.
Kirti, a two-year-old girl, was riding a two-wheeler with her father in the town of Bhavnagar when a kite string wrapped around her neck and cut her throat. The toddler was taken to hospital but died on Sunday, an official told NDTV.
In another horrific incident, three-year-old Kismat was walking home with her mother in the city of Visnagar when her throat was cut by a kite string.
Another child, seven-year-old Rishabh Verma, was killed in front of his parents after a kite string cut his throat in the town of Rajkot.
Police said three men – Swamiji Yadav, 35, Narendra Vaghela, 20, and Ashwin Gadhvi – were also killed by kite strings during the famous festival in Vadodara, Kutch and Gandhinagar districts of Gujarat.
Pictured: Families stand on rooftops while flying kites in the city of Ahmedabad on Saturday
A kitist flys a kite during the International Kite Festival at Dholera near Ahmedabad in the western Indian state of Gujarat, India on Thursday
Officials said 130 people also suffered lacerations, while another 46 were injured after falling from a height while kiting in the state on Saturday and Sunday.
Kite fighting competitions, which featured in Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner, are notorious for causing death and serious injury in India.
In 2016, two children were killed during the Gujarat International Kite Festival.
Alok Goel, whose three-year-old daughter Saanchi was one of the two children killed in 2016, said she died within minutes.
Saanchi had been with her mother, Neha, when a kite string came hurtling towards her from the sky.
Mr Goel said at the time: ‘The leash wrapped itself around her neck. Before she could say anything, she began bleeding profusely and died within minutes.’