It may not come as a surprise, but kites are the oldest known heavier-than-air objects flying in the sky above. Around the world and across different cultures, kites have taken on different meanings. Kites first became popular in China 3,000 years ago. Other places in the world then understood how much fun kite flying was.
In addition to entertainment, fliers are also used to spread propaganda, broadcast radio signals, ward off supernatural forces, and spy on others. Today, most people fly kites for fun and enjoyment.
What you may not know is that kites in the wrong hands are extremely dangerous. Records show that dozens of people are injured, some even killed, by kites each year. In one festival in India in January 2023 alone, three children were killed and another 176 injured.
What follows are 10 of the most notable times when people were killed when or by kite flying.
Related: 10 Incredibly Tragic Unsolved Child Murders
10 An Indian boy electrocuted
In Sangareddy, India, on January 12, 2023, a boy and his friends climbed onto a roof to fly a kite. The roof belonged to the rented house where one of the boys lived. Unfortunately, one of the boys got too close with his kite and hit a power line.
As a result, the boy suffered severe burns. The boy then made the unwise mistake of trying to remove the kite. He later died at a nearby medical center. The boy is said to have suffered burns on more than 90 percent of his body, while the other two suffered 30 percent burns on their bodies.
India’s transmission voltage is 765 kV AC, the highest voltage power lines can carry and the equivalent of 115,000 volts. Shocks above 2,700 volts are often fatal, while shocks above 11,000 volts are usually fatal. However, it is more the amount of current (the amps) than the voltage that determines the outcome. [1]
9 Man falls dead flying kite
In 2021, a 44-year-old man had an unfortunate experience flying a kite. The man was flying kites with his neighbors during a Sankranti celebration in Hyderabad, India, when he fell at least four floors. The accident occurred as the man approached the edge of the building’s terrace and lost his balance. It is believed that he did not know he was so close to the edge.
Unfortunately, the man fell on the metal fence surrounding the building and died on the spot before he could be transported to hospital. After the accident, the police commissioner asked people to stop flying kites from elevated places. The commissioner also requested that parents instruct children not to run into dangerous areas such as busy roads while trying to collect fliers.
For context, six stories range from 60 to 90 feet (18.3 to 27.4 meters) in height. While fliers often survive falls from 20 to 25 feet (6.1 to 7.6 meters), the greater the height afterward, the greater the chance of a fatal accident. One study determined that falls from eight stories (98 feet or 29.9 meters) are almost always fatal.[2]
8 Man electrocuted by Kite String
India’s National Green Tribunal issued a full ban in July 2017 on manja, a non-biodegradable kite string material made from nylon or other synthetics that has been found to be harmful to animals, birds and humans.
Two months later, a 33-year-old man living in eastern India failed to comply with this ordinance. The man was flying a kite from the terrace of his home when it became entangled in high-voltage wire. Made in part with glass and metal dust, the manja proved to be a good conductor when it became entangled in a 33,000-volt power line. The dead man’s son, who was holding the string, was shocked and immediately thrown backwards.
The deceased man, who owned a stationery store, was taken to a hospital, where he died of his injuries. The man’s daughter, nephew and niece were also injured when they tried to move the man’s hand away from the kite line.[3]
7 Boy dies after falling from giant kite
A five-year-old boy in Vietnam died in 2015 after becoming entangled in the ropes of a giant kite. The boy was then pulled into the air before falling 20 meters to the ground. Video recording captures the terrifying moment, where onlookers could only watch in terror. The kite took off so fast that no one could save it. The boy was freed when some of the kite cords snapped. After being taken to hospital, the boy was pronounced dead.
The boy ran away from his mother as members of the Saigon Kite Club attempted to launch the large kite, which featured a replica of the Vietnamese flag and was reportedly nearly 50 feet (15 m) wide. A woman reported that the kite fell to the ground several times before being launched by the wind. On takeoff, the pilot knocked over a table and some chairs near the cubicle where the boy’s mother was working. The boy allegedly got close to the kite to retrieve soda bottles when he became entangled in the kite strings.[4]
6 Giant Japanese kite kills one
In 2015, a crowd in Higashiomi, Japan, watched a kite weighing more than 1,000 pounds fall from the sky, injuring four people. One of the men injured by the falling kite died of his injuries. Spectators claimed the kite exhibited instability within minutes of takeoff. One commentator said the kite tipped to the side and then crashed to the ground as onlookers scrambled to find a safe spot.
On the day of the accident, a weather report was issued for a high wind warning. Three others were injured in the incident, including two elderly men and a young boy.
The annual Higashiomi Giant Kite Festival features large kites made from bamboo and paper. To make things even more surprising, this was Japan’s second giant kite fatality in a ten-week period.[5]
5 Boy dies after falling into gutter while flying kite
In 2023, a boy in Cuttack, India, wandered out of his house without telling anyone. While flying a kite, the child fell into an open drain in the Bidanasi part of the city and died.
When the boy left home, his family was watching television. Failing to prevent the boy from falling down the drain, Cuttack Municipal Corporation officials later blamed the family for the boy’s death. Construction work on the drain had stopped two months earlier, but authorities left the drain open at several points. If the Municipal Corporation had covered the well with concrete slabs, the accident would never have happened.
This wasn’t the only time someone was injured by falling into an open drain that month. A few weeks earlier, a South Korean journalist fell into an open drain in Bhubaneswar, India, while enjoying a cup of tea at a roadside stall.[6]
4 The slit throat of the boy from Mumbai
Also in 2023, a boy in Mumbai, India took in the sights from his family’s sunroof as the vehicle drove down the Mumbai-Ahmedabad National Highway to his family’s vacation home. The boy’s mother, father, sister and grandparents were also in the car. Suddenly, the boy was injured when a kite string was wrapped around his neck.
At the time of the accident, the vehicle was traveling at moderate speed and very close to the family’s destination. The boy was promptly taken to hospital with profuse bleeding. The boy’s mother, a doctor and another hospital doctor tried to put pressure on the wound. However, the boy died of his injuries. The kite cord that killed the boy was made of nylon.
What the boy didn’t know was that that same day, very close to him, a girl had similarly lost her life while also looking out of a sunroof.[7]
3 11 dead at kite festival in Pakistan
Eleven people were killed and more than 100 injured during an annual spring festival in eastern Pakistan. The festival is routinely celebrated with many bright fliers. In addition to stray party bullets, other people were killed by kite strings, electrocution caused by kites, and falling from rooftops while flying a kite.
Many kites in Pakistan try to use wire or other sharp ground glass kite strings to cut rival kite strings or damage other kites. However, this can lead to significant injuries and deaths for birds, humans and other animals.
Pakistani police arrested more than 700 people for using dangerous kite strings or firing weapons during the festival. Law enforcement also seized 282 illegally held weapons. In 2006, the Pakistani authorities even imposed a temporary flight ban after a series of festival deaths. As a result of the ban, police arrested more than 1,000 people for selling or making harmful kite strings. After these 11 fatalities, the ban was understandably reimposed [8]
2 Man on motorcycle killed by kite cord
In early 2023, a man on a motorcycle in Surat, India, was killed when a stray kite string severed his neck. At the time of the accident, the man was on his way home from work at a loom factory in a diamond industrial estate.
Police reported that the man suffered significant injuries to his throat and neck, but was able to bring his bicycle to a stop safely. The motorcyclist was taken to a nearby hospital but was later pronounced dead. The accident occurred shortly before the Uttaryan Kite Festival in India.
Uttaryan (or Makar Sankranti) is known as the harvest festival. During this time, the crowd shouts “Kai Po Che” to flying kites. The festival marks the end of winter and the beginning of longer days and honors the Hindu epic Mahabharata.[9]
1 English man killed while flying stunt kite
In 2011, a 20-year-old man in Bedfordshire, England’s Dunstable Downs, fell 50 feet after a strong gust of wind caught his kite and took the man away. Although the man had four years of “stunt kiting” flying experience, he had never worn any safety equipment. While attached to the kite, the man was thrown forward 7 feet, 40 feet into the air, rose another 20 feet, and finally hit the ground.
The fall broke the man’s arm, legs and pelvis. He is also said to have suffered a heart attack and brain injury. When paramedics arrived at the scene, they found the man unconscious and not breathing. The man was later pronounced dead.
Kite associations often suggest the utmost caution when flying aerobatic kites because of the significant drag, lift, and speed. In addition, UK law prohibits flying kites higher than 60 meters above the ground without permission from the Civil Aviation Authority. However, these security measures did not stop the man.[10]