[I]t had been reported that 861 people died in kite-flying related accidents from 2002 to the first quarter of 2006.
861 people died from flying kites in 3.25 years? That number seems, uh, high. And don't let me get started on the evils of helium balloons:
Two college students were found dead inside a large, deflated helium balloon after apparently pulling it down and crawling inside it, officials said.
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"It was more a fun thing they thought they were doing," said Linda Rydman, whose daughter was found dead. "You know how you blow up the balloon and suck the helium."
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Inhaling helium can quickly lead to brain damage and death from lack of oxygen, according to the Compressed Gas Association, which develops safety standards in the gas industry.
4 comments:
These aren't ordinary kites of course. They have razors on the tail or something. Seriously. This isn't the game we play over here. I can't remember the famous Afghanistan novel that included this kite contest.
This seems to explain that, in competitive kite flying, you reinforce your string to make it sharp to cut other kites' strings. Thus, the danger.
The Kite Runner, that's what I was thinking of. Good book by the way. But sad.
Debby, I think I read it about a year ago -- right before I started my quest to read the entire Modern Library list before I turned 30.
And you know how well that went.
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