Six people, including three children, died after their throats were cut by kite strings during an annual festival in India, according to multiple reports.
The Uttarayan festival, which takes place in the western Indian state of Gujarat, is one of the biggest festivals in the region, celebrating the end of winter and the beginning of warmer weather for farmers, LBC reported Wednesday. Festivities began Jan. 14, during which time hundreds gathered to fly kites from rooftops and terraces. In several instances, kites with “sharp strings” allegedly became entangled around the necks of revelers, slicing their throats until they “bled to death,” officials told The Tribune India.
Over 150 people were allegedly injured by the kites during the festivities.
Three children are among six to have died from kite strings slicing their throats during a festival in India
— Evening Standard (@EveningStandard) January 18, 2023
A 2-year-old girl known as Kirti was riding with her father on a bike in Bhavnagar city when she was cut by a kite string and died Sunday while being treated at the hospital, according to The Tribune. Kismat, 3, was reportedly walking with her mother Saturday in the town of Visnagar when a string slit her neck. In Rakjot, a 7-year-old boy named Rishabh Verma was killed after a kite string slit his throat while he rode on a bike with his parents, the outlet reported, citing an official from Aji Dam police station.
Three more fatal incidents occurred across the region involving adults who were reportedly killed by sharp kite strings. Forty-six people allegedly fell while flying their kites from high places and subsequently suffered injuries, while 130 people sustained lacerations, according to the outlet. (RELATED: ‘Freak Accident’ At Utah Pool Causes People to Vomit And Bleed From Their Noses)
Some festival-goers cover their nylon kite strings, known as manja, in powdered glass as a way of slicing through other kite strings in the air, The Guardian reported. The powdered glass allegedly makes the strings razor-sharp. The practice has been banned in India since 2016, but it reportedly still continues and is rarely enforced.
Police have warned against the practice because of the dangers it reportedly poses, but activist Jayesh Shinde told The Times of India the warnings are not enough.
“Citizens should not have to pay for the lackadaisical attitude of the government machinery. If the official ban is not being implemented, then the government should offer compensation to victims,” Shinde said.
Other activists cited expensive medical treatments and plastic surgery costs that some of the victims require, arguing the government is “duty-bound to compensate” the victims for any medical expenses, the outlet reported.
Birds are also injured and sometimes killed by the razor-sharp strings, suffering cuts to their wings, fractures, dislocations and nerve damage, The Guardian reported.