Ikea recalls drawers after third child is killed

Ikea said that starting past year it distributed 300,000 attachments to consumers, but not many seem to use them to affix the chests to the wall. Ikea said it will give a full refund to owners of recalled chests and dressers made between 2002 and 2016.

“If you have or think you have one of these products, act immediately”, the Chairperson of the US Product Safety Commission said today in a statement.

Two US toddlers died in separate 2014 incidents when MALM chests fell over on them. The next year, the company launched a program offering free wall-mounting kits to consumers and encouraging them to attach dressers to the wall.

People who do not want to install a wall anchor themselves might request that the company send a crew to perform the work, the CPSC said.

Ikea, the low-priced furniture giant, is recalling 29 million of its popular Malm dressers after they caused the deaths of three children.

IKEA now offers a full refund for the price of the dressers, a plan not available when the company announced a fix program last summer.

The US and Canada recalls are for several types of chests and dressers, which are taller than 60cm for the children versions and taller than 75cm for the adult versions.

The recalling is happening in North America, after fatal incidents which occurred in the U.S. and Canada.

Ikea has previously said that its dressers are created to meet European safety standards, not American guidelines, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

IKEA Canada is recalling millions of chests and dressers because of a tip-over hazard that has resulted in 78 incidents resulting in dozens of injuries including the deaths of six children in the U.S.

The 13-kilo dresser was not mounted to the wall in any of the cases that led to fatalities, Ikea said.

In addition to the three deaths, there have been reports of 41 tip-over incidents involving the MALM chests and dressers which have led to injuries in 17 children.

The CPSC and IKEA in July 2015 announced a fix program for the chests and dressers at risk of falling over, including a wall-anchoring kit.

“IKEA has worked cooperatively with the CPSC on this comprehensive and necessary recall”, Kaye said.

Australia will continue to sell a popular range of Ikea drawers despite the company recalling 29 million across the United States and Canada.