Children fly kites in Gaza Strip in effort to break world record

The Associated Press

August 1, 2011

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Thousands of Gaza children sent a sea of colorful kites soaring into the sky Thursday in an attempt to break a world record.

Christopher Gunness, a spokesman for the U.N. agency that runs the camp that hosted the event in northwest Gaza, said the unofficial count stood at more than 13,000 children flying kites, which would break the previous world record of nearly 10,500 set earlier this year in China.

Earlier Thursday, vandals torched a stage, burned a U.N. flag and damaged a billboard at the camp. Gunness said nobody was hurt and he had no information on who vandalized the facility.

Similar attacks have taken place in the past at U.N. summer camps in Gaza, where boys and girls mix.

The damage was repaired in time for the Gaza children to make their attempt at breaking the record for the largest number of children flying kites.