Tampered Halloween sweets injure girl in Austria as cases multiply
A 10-year-old girl was slightly hurt by a needle hidden in Halloween sweets in Austria's Amstetten district, as police investigate at least seven tampered-candy cases across three provinces.
Also in:Deutsch
A 10-year-old girl suffered a minor injury to her tongue after biting into a Halloween sweet containing a hidden sewing needle in Austria's Amstetten district, police said, as authorities investigate at least seven cases of tampered sweets found across three provinces since the weekend.
Police spokesman Johann Baumschlager said the girl had been going from house to house with friends and family on Halloween night when she collected the sweets; the needle was found inside a mini chocolate bar made by a well-known manufacturer. Lower Austria's state criminal police office has taken over the case.
Separately, in the Vocklabruck district of Upper Austria, an 11-year-old girl bit into a sweet containing a thick needle on Friday evening but was not injured, Kurier reported.
Austria's federal criminal police office, the Bundeskriminalamt, said cases had also been reported in Styria, where regional police listed four incidents in the districts of Leibnitz and Weiz involving a sewing needle, two metal pins and a staple found in different sweets, and in Upper Austria's city of Linz, where a 28-year-old father found nails in chocolate bars and chewy sweets his children had collected. Police said the nails had in some cases been pressed in visibly from outside and in others hidden inside the sweets, suggesting they had been tampered with by hand.
The Bundeskriminalamt said it did not yet have evidence linking the seven known Austrian cases, but could not rule out a connection, and that it was coordinating the investigation together with international partner agencies. Lower Austria's governor, Johanna Mikl-Leitner, said hiding nails and needles in children's sweets was "a devious and malicious act that leaves us all stunned," and said those responsible "must feel the full force of the law."
Austrian police have asked parents to check Halloween sweets carefully before their children eat them, and to hand over any tampered items, with packaging intact, to police without removing the foreign objects, in order to preserve evidence.
Similar cases have been reported in Germany, where police said more than 20 incidents involving needles, nails or other metal objects hidden in sweets had been found in the Unterfranken and Niederbayern regions in recent days; no one was injured in the German cases. Austrian and German police are carrying out a joint special investigation into both countries' cases.
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What we know
- 2+ outlets · Die Presse, Kurier A 10-year-old girl in Austria's Amstetten district was slightly hurt by a needle hidden in a chocolate bar collected on Halloween night.
- 1 outlet · n-tv At least seven tampered-sweets cases have been reported across Styria, Upper Austria and Lower Austria since the weekend.
- 1 outlet · n-tv An 11-year-old girl in Vocklabruck bit a needle-containing sweet but was not injured.
- 1 outlet · n-tv Austria's Bundeskriminalamt has not confirmed a link between the cases but is coordinating the investigation with German police, where more than 20 similar cases have been reported.
Not yet confirmed
- Unconfirmed Whether the Austrian cases are connected to each other or to the cases reported in Germany.
How each fact is established: Verified checked by an ECTV editorOfficial stated by an official body2+ outlets reported independently by two or more news organisations1 outlet reported by a single news organisation so farUnconfirmed claimed or reportedHow we label facts
Figure history
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Why it matters for Europe
The injuries, though minor, have alarmed parents across several Austrian regions during the traditional trick-or-treating period, and the cross-border scale of the tampering, with cases reported in both Austria and Germany within the same week, has prompted the two countries' police forces to coordinate rather than treat the incidents as isolated local pranks.
Sources
Reported by 3 reports from 3 independent outlets in 2 countries.
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Questions and answers
- Was anyone seriously hurt?
- A 10-year-old girl suffered a minor tongue injury; an 11-year-old in a separate case was not hurt.
- How many cases have been found?
- At least seven in Austria, across Styria, Upper Austria and Lower Austria, plus more than 20 in Germany.
- What are police advising parents to do?
- To check Halloween sweets carefully before children eat them and hand over any tampered items to police without removing the foreign objects.
This article was written with AI assistance from 3 verified reports and checked under the ECTV editorial policy. Spotted an error? Request a correction.