11 die as Basant ended in Lahore
26 February, 2007
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LAHORE: 11 people died and more than 100 people were injured during Basant celebrations. |
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LAHORE: At least 11 people died and more than 100 people were injured during Basant celebrations.
Giving the details,Ruqia Bano, a spokeswoman for the emergency services in Lahore said, the casualities and injuries caused by firing, sharpened kite-strings, electrocution and people falling off roof-tops.
Among the dead, five were hit by stray bullets, including a 6-year-school boy who was struck in the head near his home in the city's Mazang area, Bano said.
On the otherhand, a teen age girl and a schoolboy died after their throats were slashed by metal kite strings whereas two people were electrocuted while they tried to recover kites tangled in overhead power cables, Bano added.
A 13-year-old boy fell to his death from the roof of his home as he tried to catch a kite, and a 35-year-old woman fell off the roof of her home trying to stop her son from running after a stray kite, Bano said.
Most of the cusualties do occur due to sharp kite strings or celebratory gunshots fired into the air. Kite flyers often use strings made of wire or coated with ground glass to try to cross and cut a rival's string or damage the other kite.
It is pertenent to note here that Basant was temporarily banned by the Authorities as dozens of people died while celebrating the event last year in Lahore. According to Mian Amier Mahmood the city Mayor Lahore, the ban has been re-imposed because as the wo-day permission of kite flying has came to end last evening.
According to Lahore police, more than 700 people have been arrested for using banned material like sharpened kite strings or firing guns. The Police also seized 282 illegally held weapons during this year's festival, said Aftab Cheema, a senior Police Officer.
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