Austria has received 21 reports from six federal states, all lodged on October 31, AFP reported on Wednesday. Police said four have so far been resolved, with children responsible in each case.
In three, the minors said it was a deliberate joke, because Halloween is about scaring people. In the fourth, a child cited a TikTok challenge that involved knowingly misleading police.
Austrian police said the investigation did not at this stage allow them to establish a link between the other reported cases. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner condemned what he called “vile and perfidious” acts by those responsible.
Police urged parents to see a doctor “if swallowing of a foreign body is suspected”, but also called for calm and for people to avoid hysteria. Criminal police have set up a national task force named “Treat”, a play on the Halloween phrase “trick or treat”.
Elsewhere, Polish authorities opened an investigation after four children in the Pomerania region found nails, pins or needles in sweets. German authorities have flagged several similar cases.
In Hungary, police appealed to witnesses to help find a person who handed out sweets containing sharp pieces of metal to children at a street event in two towns near Budapest.
(jh)
Source: PAP, Polish Radio