A viral video of a frightened toddler who rose to more than 30 feet in the air was taken during a kite festival in Taiwan on August 30.
The child was suspended mid-air for several seconds. Thankfully, she got back down unharmed. Onlookers were all helpless as they could only watch the girl and wait for her to fall back down before helping her.
On Sunday, the fourth annual Hsinchu City International Kite Festival took place at the Nanliao Fishing Port in northern Taiwan. The Taiwan News said that the little girl's neck got entangled in the tail strings of her kite when suddenly, the powerful wind blew her up.
Strong gusts of wind
On the Beaufort scale, the winds measured Level 7 as reported by the outlet. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, that level is described as a "near gale" that allows "whole trees to move," and resistance is "felt walking against the wind."
The secretary-general of the Taiwan-based Asian Kite Forum, Chen Ko-fang, told the outlet that the girl could have been attracted to the candy-filled kite. She explained that children should be kept away from the kite that was supposed to drop candies over the festival. She said that even the organizers were surprised by the strong wind gusts during that time.
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Seeing the girl too late
In the full video, the kite handlers did not notice the child who was standing near them as they were about to release the kite. The men held the orange kite while waiting to release it to the sky. They only saw the little girl after the release of the kite.
The kite tossed the child violently into the air as it dips and rises. According to Taiwan English News, the girl was hurled to more than 30 feet while the people around were forced to watch. The Sunday Times reported that the child flew up to 60 feet, while The Sun said that she rose to about 100 feet.
The kite descended after flying for about 30 seconds so the people were able to catch her.
A three-year-old girl was swung into the air during a kite festival in Taiwan, suffering minor cuts. Read more: https://t.co/4rbfQLtOdb pic.twitter.com/jjyb9ywh9G — RTÉ News (@rtenews) August 30, 2020
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No serious injuries
Lin Chih-Chien, Hsinchu City mayor, shared on Facebook that they brought the girl immediately to a hospital to be tested. Other than little facial bruising, the toddler was not seriously harmed. The girl also had scrapes on her neck, but no bones were broken, as reported by Focus Taiwan.
RTE reported that after the incident, the rest of the kite festival was immediately canceled. Mayor Lin Chih-Chien apologized and promised to investigate what happened to avoid them in the future.
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The government website wrote that the annual kite festival is an event to promote tourism. The festival is usually held on a nearly 20-acre kite field. It is the "best kite-flying competition venue in the world" according to a "Swedish kite professional."
