Two children and a man have died in Delhi after their throats were slit by glass-coated strings used for flying kites on Indian independence day.These injuries resulted from the use of fighter kites flown using abrasive string. The phenomenon will be familiar to anyone who has read Khaled Hosseini's book The Kite Runner (which I rated 4+ when I read it in 2003 in the pre-blog era).
Sanchi Goyal, three, and a four-year-old identified only as Harry, both suffered fatal injuries while looking out of the sunroof of their cars in different parts of the Indian capital on Monday. Zafar Khan, 22, died after his neck became entangled in a string while he was on his motorbike... “The manja [kite string] had cut through her neck, including the windpipe. The cut was so deep she died instantly.”
In response to the spate of incidents, the Delhi government has banned metal or glass kite strings and offenders face up to five years in prison and/or a fine of 100,000 rupees (£1,146).
Manja injuries can be viewed on Google Images.
ReplyDeleteMy dad taught me to build a kite for kite fighting. He told me about the glass string. I decided to make some, and broke a coke bottle up with a hammer, and glued it to my string. I went and got a buddy to fly his kite so I could cut his string with mine.
But I ended up cutting my own string, and watching my kite drift away. For the next two weeks I was picking little pieces of glass out of my hands. Every time I rubbed my forehead, I’d start bleeding. Haha.
I have heard that fluorescent tube lights glass is better - it is very thin, so it is easier to grind into a fine powder.
Deletekite fliers that use kevlar kite string have to be careful with it. it will cut itself. it will cut fingers, etc.
ReplyDelete