3-Year-Old Sent Spinning in Sky after Getting Tangled in Kite

The toddler was swung in the air before panicked onlookers rushed to help her.
Derya Ozdemir

A three-year-old girl was pulled into the sky by a large kite due to the fierce winds at an annual kite festival in Taiwan on Sunday.

The footage recorded during the Hsinchu City International Kite Festival in Hsinchu Taiwan shows the toddler swinging violently with the force of the wind before someone pulled the kite down.

Several reports claimed that the winds lifted her as high as 30 feet (10 meters). 

SEE ALSO: KITE SURFER UNWITTINGLY FILMS A METEOR SHOOTING ACROSS THE SKY BEHIND HIM

The 2020 International Kite Festival was held over the weekend in Nanliao, which is a seaside town known for its high winds. Its ideal weather for kiting had made the town perfect for the festival.

The accident happened Sunday afternoon during the festival, with the circumstances leading to it remaining unclear. The footage suggests that the toddler became stuck to the kite's strings or peripheral fabric before it took flight.

The 3-year-old was sent spinning into the sky and could be seen rapidly spinning. The kite didn't appear to be tied to the ground, which was why the eyewitnesses were forced to wait for the winds to weaken before they were able to recover her safely.

Thankfully, the toddler was fine except for the minor bruises to her face and neck. She was taken immediately to the hospital and the event was called off by the Hsinchu City Government, who issued an apology later Sunday evening.

The city's mayor, Lin Chih-Chien wrote “The city government team offers its sincere apology to the victim and the public," and promised that the incident would be investigated by the authorities to prevent similar accidents in the future.

According to a report from Focus Taiwan, wind speeds had reached category 7 on the Beaufort scale on Sunday, which means the wind had a sustained force between 32 and 38 miles per hour. The powerful winds seemed to be the reason why the child launched unexpectedly.

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