India’s Independence Day celebrations in New Delhi turned grizzly when the strings of celebratory kites were involved in 3 deaths on the day, 2 of them children.
In a stomach-churning co-incidence, a 4-yr-old and a 3 yr-old were each watching the kites while standing up out of the sunroofs of their cars in separate parts of the city. Both boys were killed when glass-coated kite strings sliced their throats.
A 22-yr-old man also died when he became tangled in a kite string while cycling.
Kite-flying is a competitive sport in parts of India, with some enthusiasts using strings coated with glass shards, chemicals, and metal to slice through the strings of rival kites.
There are bans against the use of glass-coated strings, however they are still available in parts of the country.