Four killed in kite festival

Four people were killed and 80 injured at a traditional kite flying festival in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, police said today.

Among the dead was a six-year-old girl whose throat was slit by a metal kite string stretching across a street where she was walking with her mother last night, said Athar Khan, a police spokesman in the city.

Two men were killed when they were hit by cars while trying to catch stray kites in two separate accidents late last night, Khan said. A teenage boy fell to his death from the roof of his home while flying a kite.

The accidents came during the annual Basant festival welcoming spring in Lahore, when kites fill the sky and people take to the rooftops for all-night parties. Basant means “yellow” in Hindi, symbolising blossoming spring flowers.

Authorities had tightened security this year after threats by Islamic hard-liners who distributed fliers against Basant, which they consider un-Islamic because of its Hindu origin.

Seven of the 80 people injured were in serious condition. They received injuries from bruises from metal strings – used in violation of a ban – falls from roof tops, minor electrical shocks and scuffles over catching stray kites, Khan said.

Last year during the festival, two people were killed and more than 100 were injured. Authorities have banned the use of metal or chemical-lined strings to try to prevent accidents or electrocutions from kite flying. The strings are popular for use in kite battles where people try to cut each others’ lines.