Sharp objects found in Halloween sweets in three European nations
Dozens of cases are reported in Austria, Germany and Hungary, including a nine-year-old girl hurting her tongue while eating chocolate containing a pin.
Sharp objects discovered in Halloween candy in three European countries
Needles and other sharp metal items have been found in sweets distributed at Halloween in Germany, Austria and Hungary, leading police to warn parents to inspect what their children have received.
Police in several German states have reported incidents ranging from Bavaria in the south-east to Lower Saxony in the north.
A nine-year-old girl injured her tongue while eating a chocolate bar in Bremervörde, west of Hamburg. A pin measuring 5cm long (2in) was later found inside it.
In Hungary, police have opened a criminal investigation after nails, screws and pieces of wire were discovered in sweets given to children trick-or-treating in and around the town of Gyömrő, east of Budapest.
The local authority said one young girl had been given a toffee with a nail inside a chocolate wrapper and had fortunately noticed it in time, so she did not swallow the sweet.
There have also been several reports across Austria, where Interior Minister Gerhard Karner described the incidents as "cowardly, malicious and in some cases life-threatening".
Police there said investigations were ongoing in four states, and that a 10-year-old girl suffered a minor mouth injury when she bit into a small chocolate bar in the Amstetten area east of Linz.
Lower Austria Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner said the perpetrators must face the full force of the law, adding: "Our children deserve a carefree childhood and we'll continue to ensure that."
Police in Bavaria in south-eastern Germany said that although similar cases had been reported over the past two years, early figures this year pointed to a significant rise in incidents.
Police have recorded as many as 25 cases in Bavaria involving sweets containing needles, screws or nails.
Police in Middle Franconia in western Bavaria have also warned about the danger of copycat acts, after a mother found a needle in her child's chocolate bar and reported it to police.
She later returned to police to say her child had admitted to putting the needle there.