A two-year-old child died after her throat was cut by the razor-sharp string of a kite during a festival in India – one of six to lose their lives in a shocking weekend of carnage, police have said. Another 176 were injured as a result of cuts and falls during the course of the Uttarayan festival in Gujarat.
Vast numbers took to terraces and rooftops to take part in the annual event – but things soon went drastically wrong.
Some participants used sharp strings to fly kites which ended up getting entangled around the necks of the victims, slitting their throats officials explained.
In one horrific incident, a two-year-old known as Kirti, who was riding with her father on his two-wheeler in Bhavnagar city, died despite treatment at a hospital on Sunday, said an official from Bortalav police station.
In another, a three-year-old called Kismat was walking with her mother in a town called Visnagar town on Saturday when a thread also cut her throat.
She was taken to hospital but doctors pronounced her dead on arrival, a Visnagar police spokesman said.
Seven-year-old Rishabh Verma was cycling with his parents in Rakjot after buying a kite when he was also fatally injured, an Aji Dam police station official said.
Similar incidents were confirmed by police, in Vadodara, Kutch and Gandhinagar districts, where three men who were also riding bicycles had their throats cut.
Swamiji Yadav, 35, died as he was crossing a bridge, as did Narendra Vaghela, 20, in Gandhidham city of Kutch district, and Ashwin Gadhvi in the town of Gandhinagar.
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Two children died killed during the International Kite festival in Gujarat in 2016.
Alok Goel, whose daughter Saanchi, 3 was one of them, said the youngster had been with her mother when tragedy struck.
He explained: ‘The line wrapped around her throat.
“Before she could say anything, she started bleeding profusely and died within minutes.”