Kiwis caught in Ikea recall after six children crushed
The Warehouse is contacting customers who bought parallel-imported Ikea drawers after a huge recall in North America following the deaths of six children.
The Swedish retailer is offering refunds or wall attachments to buyers of almost 36 million chests of drawers in the United States and Canada, after they were linked to the deaths.
Ikea said the drawers were safe if secured to a wall. The recall covers six models of Malm chests or dressers made between 2002 and 2016, as well as 100 other types of Ikea chests or dressers.
Warehouse spokeswoman Tanya Henderson said it sold parallel-imported Ikea goods online from time to time, including Malm dressers.
‘‘The Warehouse has sold fewer than 140 impacted units in New Zealand and all of those came with clear instructions for safe installation and included a wall anchoring unit,’’ she said.
The retailer would try and make email contact with customers who had bought the dressers and they would be offered a wall anchoring unit, if they did not receive one with their unit, or a full refund, she said.
New Zealand Ikea furniture importer Myflatpack manager Tristram Whimp said last year that his company had also sold about 600 Malms of all sizes since 2011.
Yesterday he said any chest of drawers not secured to the wall could pose the same threat. ‘‘We’re not concentrating on those drawers at present again,’’ Whimp said.
Officials at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment said they were aware of the Ikea recall and that there were some of the drawers in New Zealand
MBIE’s trading standards safety team leader, Martin Rushton, said the recall was a wake-up call.
‘‘In an earthquake-prone country like New Zealand, securing free-standing furniture and avoiding placing unsecured heavy items on top of furniture is best practice to prevent injury to the whole family.’’
Three toddlers have been killed since 2014 from Malm chests falling onto them and another three deaths have been attributed to other Ikea chests. but we’d sell them