Horror as two children and one adult have their throats cut by the glass-coated string on the Indian independence day kites
The children both had their heads sticking out of car sunroofs when they were killed in separate incidents
TWO children have been killed after having their throats slashed by kite strings in two separate freak accidents in India.
Three year-old Saanchi Goyal and a four-year-old boy, Harry, both had their heads sticking out of car sunroofs when glass-coated kite strings caught their necks, cutting their throats.
An adult was also killed in a similar incident when motorcyclist Zafar Khan, 22, was pulled from his bike by the deadly string.
The young man smashed his head, dying from massive blood loss and head injuries, New Delhi police said.
The kite strings, which were being used in India's Independence Day celebrations this week, are known locally as manjha.
The cords are traditionally used on fighting kites across India during festivals and celebrations but when the kites are abandoned, the killer string is also left flying loose.
Officials have since banned the sale, production and storage of metal or glass-coated majha.
Only cotton or natural threads can be used for flying kites with offenders facing up to five years in prison.
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One eye witness of Khan's death told local media: "As he reached the middle of the flyover, a string got stuck in his neck and he fell on the road hitting his head on the divider.
"He was not wearing a helmet."
Firefighters passing by stopped and rushed him to hospital but medics at the Deen Dayal Upadhyay clinic declared him dead.
Local joint Commissioner of Police Dependra Pathak said the young man had been pulled from his bike by the string.
He added: "He suffered severe head injuries and died due to excessive bleeding."
Police are treating Khan's death as a suspected manslaughter.
Fighter kites are usually used in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Vietnam, Korea, Thailand and Brazil and involve using abrasive lines to try and cut the strings of other kites.
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