Every year on August 15th, India celebrates their independence from the British Empire. While there is nothing wrong with celebrating independence from the British (July 4 is my favorite holiday), how they commemorate it is a little problematic. In fact, this week, their traditional method of celebration, kite racing, left three people dead, including two children.
Kite racing in India isn’t a simple fun sport, it’s serious business. Those participating are in it to win it.
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As a way of getting a leg up on the competition many kite racers coat their kite’s strings in glass or metal to sharpen them. The purpose of doing this is to try to cut the strings of your opponents’ kites.
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However, broken glass and metal flying around in the air at high speeds poses quite a danger to those watching the kite races.
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This year, three-year-old Saanchi Goyal, and four-year-old Harry, were watching the kite racing in Delhi when glass-covered kite strings whipped by them and slit their throats.
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Twenty-two-year-old Zaffar Khan suffered the same fate as he was riding his motorcycle through the city.
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(via Unilad)
That has got to be the absolute worst way to die. One minute you’re there enjoying the game, the next you’re on the ground bleeding out. These shrapnel-covered kites are technically illegal in India, but that doesn’t stop most people from constructing them year after year.
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