WASHINGTON (AFP) — US authorities on Friday announced a recall of one million cribs made in China after at least two babies became trapped and died, and more than 60 other incidents were reported.
The recall of Simplicity Inc. cots was the latest to hit Chinese-made consumer products, after the large-scale recalls of millions of Mattel toys found to contain lead paint or dangerous parts.
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said Friday it was recalling older-style Simplicity cots because the drop-side could became detached, creating a gap which could either trap or suffocate a child.
A nine-month-old baby and a six-month-old were known to have died when the drop-side of their cots were installed upside down and collapsed, the commission said in a statement.
The commission was also investigating the death of a one-year-old in a newer Simplicity crib in which the drop-side was installed upside down.
"CPSC is warning parents and caregivers to check all Simplicity cribs to make sure the drop-side is installed right side up," the commission said in a statement.
"The drop-side failures result from both the hardware and crib design, which allow consumers to unintentionally install the drop-side upside down.
"This, in turn, can weaken the hardware and cause the drop-side to detach from the crib. When the drop-side detaches, it creates a gap in which infants can become entrapped."
The commission added it was aware of seven cases where babies had become trapped in their cribs and 55 other incidents. It was also investigating two cases which occurred even though the cot had been correctly put together.
The cribs "were sold in department stores, children's stores and mass merchandisers nationwide from January 1998 through May 2007 for between 100 and 300" dollars, the commission said.
It also urged consumers to "check to see if their crib contains the recalled hardware. Recalled hardware has a flexible tab at the bottom of the lower tracks and the top of the lower tracks are open.
"Newer hardware, which is not subject to the recall, has the flexible tab located at the top of the lower track, and a permanent stop at the bottom."
"Simplicity strives to make safe products; that is our number one priority. That's why we worked with the CPSC to take this action," Ken Waldman, the president of Pennsylvania-based Simplicity, said in a statement.
The recall will again rattle US consumers about the safety of Chinese products after a series of scares involving popular toys such as Thomas the Tank Engine, Barbies and Polly Pockets in recent months.
But earlier Friday US toy giant Mattel issued a startling apology to China, saying the vast majority of the recent recalls of Chinese-made products were due to design flaws it had committed itself.
"It is very important for everyone to understand that the vast majority of those products recalled were the result of a design flaw in Mattel, not through the manufacturing flaw in China's manufacturers," said Thomas Debrowski, Mattel's executive vice president of worldwide operations.
"Mattel takes full responsibility for those recalls," Debrowski told Li Changjiang, the head of China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, the nation's top agency for product quality.
"I would like to apologize personally to you, the Chinese people and all of the customers who received toys that have been manufactured," Debrowski said in a Beijing meeting.
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