Six dead at Indian kite festival after sharpened strings cut throats
The annual festival sees competitive kite flying with reinforced metallic strings
Six people, including three children, have been killed at a kite festival in India after razor-sharp strings cut their throats.
A reported 176 people were injured at the Uttarayan festival in Gujarat on the west coast of India last weekend, predominantly “due to cuts and falls”, reported the Daily Mail.
A boy aged seven and two girls aged two and three were injured after the kite strings “became entangled around their necks and slit their throats”, the paper said. The deaths took place in different cities across the region, and two men in Gandhidham city, Gujarat, aged 35 and 20, were also confirmed to have died from similar injuries.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The International Kite Festival, which sees “approximately eight to ten million people participate” from around the world every year, “marks the day when winter slowly starts to turn into summer” in the Indian calendar, said Lifestyle Asia.
However, the festival also “sees revellers take place in deadly contests where they try to cut down other kites with their own kite string”, wrote The Mirror. It said these contests lead kite flyers to reinforce their kite strings “with glass powder or even metal, making it sharp enough to lead to the horrific deaths”.
Kite flying has become “notorious for causing death and serious injury in India”, said the Daily Mail, with two children dying at the event in 2016. That year the local government in India’s capital Delhi banned the use of sharpened, glass-covered strings, promising to “run campaigns to educate people about the dangers” as well as hand out punishments to those who do use them, said the BBC. In 2017, the National Green Tribunal banned the use of the strings, known as ‘manja’, across India.
As well as the devastating injuries caused to people, the kite strings also “kill and maim hundreds of birds annually”. This year “336 birds and 723 animals sustained injuries”, reported The Telegraph India.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Richard Windsor is a freelance writer for The Week Digital. He began his journalism career writing about politics and sport while studying at the University of Southampton. He then worked across various football publications before specialising in cycling for almost nine years, covering major races including the Tour de France and interviewing some of the sport’s top riders. He led Cycling Weekly’s digital platforms as editor for seven of those years, helping to transform the publication into the UK’s largest cycling website. He now works as a freelance writer, editor and consultant.
-
Romania's election rerun
Shock result of presidential election has been annulled following allegations of Russian interference
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
People celebrate the end of the Assad regime in Umayyad Square in Damascus
Today's Big Question Fall of Assad regime is a 'historic opportunity' and a 'moment of huge peril' for country and region
By Elliott Goat, The Week UK Published
-
The best non-alcoholic fizz for Christmas
The Week Recommends Add some quality, booze-free sparkle to your festive drinks list
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
Pope aide under fire for 'mystical orgasms' book
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Thieves who stole shopping bag in for big disappointment
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Woman has one in 50 million pregnancy
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
The spiralling global rice crisis
feature India’s decision to ban exports is starting to have a domino effect around the world
By Rebekah Evans Published
-
The sinister side to India’s fantasy gaming craze
feature Fantasy gaming is booming in India, despite the country's ban on gambling
By Rebekah Evans Published
-
India hoping to be fourth country to reach Moon after Chandrayaan-3 launch
Speed Read Rocket aiming to set its lander Vikram down near Moon’s little-explored south pole
By Jamie Timson Published
-
Why does India have so many train crashes?
Today's Big Question The deadly Odisha crash is the latest in a string of rail accidents in the country
By Justin Klawans Published
-
More than 260 killed and 900 injured in Indian train crash
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published