A three-year-old girl was carried several meters into the air yesterday during an international kite festival in Hsinchu, after being caught up in the tail of a 24m-long kite.
The girl, surnamed Lin (林), was standing near a navigator kite — a large kite used to carry smaller and less stable kites up into the air — when a sudden gust of strong wind pulled the navigator kite up, wrapping the kite’s tail around the girl’s waist as it flew upward, festival organizers said.
Lin — who weighs about 13kg — was flung about in the air for about eight seconds before the kite’s tail came near the ground, were people gathered to catch her.
Photo: @VIASBLOG.TW via Reuters
The incident happened at 3:40pm as organizers were tying a toy panda stuffed with candy onto the navigator kite, which was to drop the candy from the sky for children at the festival, Asian Kite Forum director Cheng Ko-fang (鄭可方) said.
Workers at the festival immediately rushed to pull down the kite when they saw Lin was caught in its tail, Cheng said, adding that the forum would thoroughly investigate the incident and discuss how to prevent a recurrence.
City officials escorted Lin and her mother to Hsin Chu Armed Force Hospital, where they were joined by Hsinchu Deputy Mayor Shen Hui-hung (沈慧虹), who presented the family with a red envelope on behalf of Hsinchu Mayor Lin Chih-chien (林智堅).
The hospital said that, apart from some scratches around her neck, the girl was not seriously injured.
The city canceled the festival events for the rest of the day as a safety precaution.
Hsinchu Department of Economic Development Director Chang Li-ko (張力可) said the city would cancel festival activities on days with very strong winds and increase the number of festival workers present when large kites are in use.
Lin Chih-chien in a Facebook post apologized to the girl’s family and pledged to thoroughly investigate the cause of the incident.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
HOTEL HIRING: An official said that hoteliers could begin hiring migrant workers next year, but must adhere to a rule requiring a NT$2,000 salary hike for Taiwanese The government is to allow the hospitality industry to recruit mid-level migrant workers for housekeeping and three other lines of work after the Executive Yuan yesterday approved a proposal by the Ministry of Labor. A shortage of workers at hotels and accommodation facilities was discussed at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee. A 2023 survey conducted by the Tourism Administration found that Taiwan’s lodging industry was short of about 6,600 housekeeping and cleaning workers, the agency said in a report to the committee. The shortage of workers in the industry is being studied, the report said. Hotel and Lodging Division Deputy Director Cheng
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
RSS