Two Nanaimo children, ages four and five, will have to undergo testing after getting pricked by discarded needles found in an old tree stump outside their homes.
Police say they believe the syringes were tainted with blood.
The children were playing outside on Tuesday at about 5:30 p.m., at 564 Fifth St., also known as King Arthur’s Court, when they were pricked.
“This is a parent’s worse nightmare. Parents should not have to worry about their children being exposed to bio-hazards that could potentially have a long term impact on their health and well-being,” said Constable Gary O’Brien of the Nanaimo RCMP in a release.
Nanaimo RCMP officers seized the syringes and disposed of them safely. Officers were told, while investigating the incident, that upwards of eight needles had been found on the ground earlier in the day.
Mounties say in the past 12 months they have been called to this complex for incidents such as fights, weapons complaints, drug possession, drug trafficking and other disturbances. As a result, this complex had been recommended as a nuisance property.
In mid-March, a four-year-old child in Maple Ridge pricked himself with a needle found outside his home.
Comments