Six folks, together with two toddlers and a younger little one, have horrifically died after their necks have been slit by “glass-encrusted” kite strings at an annual competition in India.
Huge crowds gathered for the Kite Festival of Uttarayan in Gujarat, a state alongside the nation’s western coast, on January 14 and 15 to have a good time a altering of the season and the approaching harvest.
The occasion, one of many greatest on the Indian calendar, the place folks collect to fly their kites on the streets and from rooftops, sadly turned bloody when eventgoers grew to become entangled in “razor-sharp” strings.
Up to 176 folks have been injured on account of cuts and falls on the competition, the place revellers are identified to interact in “kite fights”. The intention of the sport is to sever the kite strings of different opponents, the Press Trust of India news company reported.
The harmful kite strings are sometimes coated with glass powder, and even lined with metallic, making them extraordinarily sharp.
Local officers mentioned the kite battle led to a number of victims bleeding to demise after the strings entangled round their necks and slit their throats.
Tragically, two child ladies, aged two and three, and a boy, seven, have been among the many fatalities.
The two-year-old, identified solely as Kirti, was on a scooter along with her father at celebrations in Bhavnagar metropolis when a kite string minimize her neck. Bhavnagar police mentioned she died throughout therapy at a hospital on Sunday.
Meanwhile, a three-year-old woman, Kismat, was strolling dwelling along with her mom in Visnagar city when one of many sharp threads gashed her neck. The woman was rushed to a hospital, nevertheless it was too late to avoid wasting her and docs declared her lifeless, a Visnagar police official mentioned.
Similarly, seven-year-old Rishabh Verma was using a scooter along with his dad and mom after shopping for a kite when his neck was slit by a string in Rakjot, an official from Aji Dam police station mentioned.
In one other incident, Swamiji Yadav, 35, died after a kite string minimize his throat when he was using a motorbike down a bridge in Chhani in Vadodara metropolis. A Chhani police station official mentioned the person was “killed instantly”.
According to the police, comparable incidents have been reported in Kutch and Gandhinagar districts, the place two extra males misplaced their lives when their necks have been slit by kite strings whereas using their bikes.
It shouldn’t be the primary time folks have died on the competition. In 2018, 16 folks have been killed after they have been slashed by the lethal kite strings or from falling off rooftops.
While the competition nonetheless continues in India, Pakistan banned the observe in 2007 after quite a few deaths.
