Girl, 3, gets caught in strings and is lifted high into air at kite festival

A three-year-old girl in Taiwan has miraculously escaped unharmed after getting caught in the strings of a giant kite and being hoisted high into the air in front of panicking onlookers.

As reported by The Guardian, the unbelievable moment occurred at a kite festival in the seaside town of Nanliao, near Hsinchu City, on Sunday.

However, as she reportedly took part in the flying of a large, long-tailed orange kite, she became tangled in its strings and was lifted meters into the air as onlookers screamed in horror.

The stunning video can be seen below:

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Videos of the incident show festival employees struggling to keep control of the kite on the ground, before a strong wind took the kite high into the sky - with the young girl attached.

The young girl - who had become caught in the tail of the kite - spent over 30 seconds being flung around before the workers were able to lower the kite, as the girl was caught softly by people within the crowd.

Unbelievable, the girl escaped from the incidents with no physical injuries, but was reportedly left frightened by the ordeal - and I don't blame her.

The Guardian adds that the local government bureaucrat, Zhang Li Ke, confirmed in a statement that the strong winds caused the tail to wrap around the abdomen of the girl.

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Somewhat ironically, the kite was also supposed to bring joy to the children in attendance, as secretary-general of the Taiwan-based Asian Kite Forum Chen Ko-fang revealed that it was supposed to scatter candy from the sky for the excited youngsters to catch below, Taiwan News has reported.

Ko-fang added that children are usually kept at a safe distance from the kites, but the organizers were caught off-guard by a strong gust. The Guardian adds that the winds were reportedly on a level seven on the Beaufort scale – or around 50-60km per hour.

Following the incident, Lin Chih-chien, the mayor of Hsinchu city, issued a public apology.

Chih-chien said:

"The city government team offers its sincere apology to the victim and the public.m We will review the incident to avoid such an accident from happening again. We will also investigate responsibility and conduct an in-depth review."

Chih-chien added that local authorities transported the girl and her family to a hospital, where she was cleared of injuries, apart from some minor scratches on her neck.

Authorities also shut down further activities at the festival, to ensure the safety of the public in the high winds