Daily Mail

Missing person hunt for boy, 11, playing ‘hide in Ikea overnight’ internet craze

- Daily Mail Reporter

‘He planned it quite well’

WHEN 11- year- old Kaden Mirza failed to return home from school, his parents feared the worst.

Police were called, and night came and went – only for the schoolboy to turn up safe and sound the next day.

While his family were relieved, they were surely less than impressed with the reason for his disappeara­nce.

Kaden had apparently hidden in an Ikea store overnight, as part of an internet craze that has been condemned by both police and the company itself. The web dare – ‘Stay Inside Ikea Overnight and Not Be Discovered’ – invites children to sneak into stores just before closing time.

They must avoid security guards and post footage of their overnight ‘adventure’ online.

Kaden’s father Abid said he was filled with anxiety when his son failed to return home from King Ecgbert School in Sheffield on Tuesday afternoon.

‘We have been through a very rough time in the last 24 hours,’ he said. ‘I hope no other parents go through this. I just don’t have the words to describe it.

‘A few weeks ago I saw on his mobile history where he searched for “24hrs stay in school and go undetected”.

‘He’s been watching videos and checking the web for all this and then deleting it and never left a clue. He planned it quite well. We are very grateful to everyone who helped through Mr Mirza, a out very, 30, – very we used hard have his time.’ Facebook been hiding page craze, to warn which parents has become of the popular in the United States.

An Ikea spokesman said: ‘We appreciate that people want to create fun experience­s with us, but we do not allow this kind of activity to take place in our stores. We are constantly reviewing our security procedures to better prevent these incidents from happening.’

South Yorkshire Police highlighte­d the dangers of ‘24hour challenges’ following the incident. Detective Inspector Anna Sedgwick said: ‘To many young people this internet craze may seem like a bit of fun that is impressive on social media. However, the risks and harm that could be caused are by no means humorous and could be catastroph­ic. ‘Warehouses and shopping department­s contain large quantities of heavy stock and items that could easily fall and crush someone if they are moved incorrectl­y, or used to build makeshift forts.

‘There is also the potential risk of electrical faults and fires, which could have devastatin­g consequenc­es.

‘Children often do this without the knowledge of parents, which could lead to large- scale searches or even cause them to be reported as missing.

‘This not only causes fear and worry, but can also be a waste of valuable police time, which may be needed to respond to a lifeor-death situation. ‘Work is ongoing with schools and community groups to raise awareness of the dangers. A few words of advice could save your youngster’s life.’ Ikea appealed for teenagers to stop staging ‘non- sponsored sleepovers’ in its shops when almost a dozen incidents came to its attention in 2016. While popular in America, the craze is thought to have been started by two Belgian teenagers in August that year. A video of their exploits uploaded to YouTube showed the pair jumping on beds after they hid in a wardrobe for three hours to avoid guards. It has been watched millions of times. Ikea owns 276 shops in 25 countries, while another 37 outlets in 17 countries are run by franchises.

 ??  ?? Disappeare­d for a day: Kaden Mirza
Disappeare­d for a day: Kaden Mirza
 ??  ?? Soft furnishing­s: The Ikea store in Sheffield
Soft furnishing­s: The Ikea store in Sheffield

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