Needles and screws in the sweets received by children in Germany for Halloween

German police are investigating several incidents in which children received Halloween sweets containing needles, screws and other sharp metal objects. The cases were reported on Sunday in the states of Thuringia, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate, and investigators suspect that the objects were deliberately inserted to cause injuries.

One of the incidents occurred in Nuremberg, where a child bit into a piece of chocolate containing a hidden needle. The child was not injured. Two other cases were reported in Baden-Württemberg, with the needles concealed inside the sweets and impossible to see from the outside.

In several cases, police opened investigations for attempted grievous bodily harm. The investigations seek to establish how the dangerous objects ended up in the products and who inserted them. As of Sunday, no suspect had been identified.

Authorities are reviewing all the cases to determine whether there is a connection between them. A similar incident was reported last year in the United States, where families discovered needles and other foreign objects in sweets received by children on Halloween.