A five-year-old boy was accidently picked up by a huge kite and then fell down from a height of 20 meters, dying on Sunday in Ho Chi Minh City. The victim was Van Minh Dat, whose parents sell beverages to kite fliers and watchers in the Dong Dieu area in Hoc Mon District. This is an area where people often fly kites of various colors and sizes in the afternoon, attracting a lot of spectators, especially children brought by their parents. At about 4:00 pm yesterday, Dat was standing next to a huge red kite that was about to be flown on a pilot basis by the Saigon Kite Club in preparation for a kite festival to be held in Vung Tau, a seaside city about 100km from Ho Chi Minh City, soon. While a group of people were trying to fly the kite, whose wingspan is 18 meters wide, Dat managed to get under the kite’s wing without anyone noticing, according to Nguoi Lao Dong (Laborer) newspaper. When the kite picked up enough air it flew up, taking Dat along with it, as the boy’s legs had accidentally become tied around strings on the kite’s wing, Nguoi Lao Dong said. At that time, some witnesses dashed to pull the kite back down but they failed, the newspaper said.  When the kite reached a height of about 20 meters, the strings unwound from his legs, causing him to fall to the ground. Witnesses took the boy to the Hoc Mon General Hospital for emergency aid but he died soon after. Meanwhile, the kite was pulled down to the ground. Local police have detained a number of people involved in the case for investigation. Dat’s family lives in Hoc Mon’s Xuan Thoi Dong Commune.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!