Kite-flying event claims 13 lives
From correspondents in Lahore
February 07, 2005
THIRTEEN people have been killed and more than 500 injured during an annual kite-flying festival in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore.
Seven people with severe head injuries died in the city's General Hospital alone, and about 220 people were admitted with a variety of injuries including broken bones, hospital officials said.
The two-day festival of Basant, marking the start of spring, began with thousands of revellers perched on rooftops.
Two teenagers were killed when they fell from a roof, and two more were killed when a car hit them while they were trying to catch a stray kite, police said.
A man was killed by a stray bullet, while another was electrocuted when metal wire used to fly a kite became draped over live electric lines.
Officials said more than 300 injured people were taken to four other hospitals in different parts of the city.
Meanwhile, the festivities continued amid chants of "Bo Kata" (We have cut) as rival kites came down. Victory was celebrated with drumbeats, firecrackers and often firing in the air.
The celebrations also included concerts and dinner parties.
President Pervez Musharraf and his wife Sehba had visited Lahore for Basant, officials said. He watched from the roof of a historic building in the old part of the walled city.
Officials said more than 50,000 people from across the country had arrived in Lahore along with 10,000 other Pakistanis residing in the Middle East, Europe and the US to celebrate the occasion with friends or relatives.
Hundreds of shops and stalls across the city were selling kites, while many multinational companies distributed free kites carrying their insignia.
Police said more than 50 people had been detained for using metal kite strings or firing in the air.
City police chief Aftab Ahmad Cheema had warned before the festival that police would take "stern action" against both offences.
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