Chocolate egg toy kills girl, 3

A THREE-year-old girl has died after swallowing a little toy treat from a chocolate egg.

Pompiers had been called by her mother to the house in Saint-Elix-le-Château, near Toulouse, after the girl started choking and fell unconscious.

They succeeded in getting her breathing again but she died later in Purpan hospital in Toulouse of severe brain damage from lack of oxygen.

A post-mortem examination found a plastic toy was the cause as a piece had come apart.

Although several French news sites named Kinder Surprise eggs as the source, the company issued a statement saying that it was sorry to hear the sad news of the little girl’s death but said it could not confirm or deny that its product was involved.

Kinder, which has toys inside hard-to-open plastic capsules inside its eggs and advises that they are only for children of three and over, added: “It could have been a sweet from another brand or a counterfeit. The inquiry will find out.”

The US bans Kinder Surprise to prevent accidents.