“We are urging residents not to play near the electricity grid, not only it is not safe for the individuals, it can also result in power outages and affecting other people,” Adi Priyatno, general manager of PLN distribution unit in Bali, said in a statement. 

According to Adi, 74 power outages that occurred this month alone have been traced back to kite-related incidents. 

On Sunday, officers from the Denpasar City Police arrested a 50-year-old kite owner who allegedly caused an explosion at a local electrical substation in South Denpasar. 

“The suspect flew his kite and then left it without supervision, and because of this the kite broke from its thread and fell on the scene, resulting in the explosion and burning of one of the substations,” Jansen Avitus Panjaitan, Denpasar City Police chief, said. 

June to August is known as the kite season, or musim layang-layang, here in Bali. The sight of thousands of kites being flown from different parts of the island are common during this time of the year, with kite flying being a part of Bali’s centuries-old tradition. It’s also around this time that the Bali Kite Festival is held annually, though the event has been canceled this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Kite-related incidents are sadly not uncommon, and while kites have evidently been the culprit behind the island’s power outages, it has also caused some freak accidents recently. This includes the death of a 61-year-old man from Denpasar, who lost balance while he was riding a motorcycle and collided with a wheel loader after the string of a kite got tangled around his neck. 

Support Coconuts and rep your city

Now you can wear your love of Coconuts proudly across your chest. That’s right, we’re getting into the merch business with the launch of our official online store, The Coconuts Shop.

Our first product is that ultimate wardrobe mainstay: the white T-shirt.

If you want to rep your city, we’ve also launched Coconuts City Logo Tees for Bangkok, Manila, Singapore, Hong Kong, KL, Jakarta, Bali, and Yangon.

They’re all sold exclusively at The Coconuts Shop – at a special introductory price of S$29 until Sep. 30, 2020!