Video shows police rescue operation

His parents were briefly distracted when a boy in Australia crawled into an automatic claw machine with stuffed animals. And can't free myself from it.

Queensland – Plush toy vending machines can be pretty tricky. Even after inserting coins several times and honing the gripping technique with each attempt, it can happen that children and adults leave without the cuddly toy they were longing for. In order to get hold of one of the coveted soft toys, a three-year-old boy didn't even bother with the joystick of a vending machine in Queensland (Australia). He tried his luck in a different way.

Three-year-old boy climbs into plush toy machine – police have to free him

When parents walk through the shopping center with their children, it is advisable not to lose sight of the little rascals for a second. The risk that small children will disappear in the crowds of people – or behind the window of a plush toy machine – is too great. This also happened on Sunday (January 28th) in Queensland, Australia.

Police video footage shows an adventurous boy, just three years old, rolling around inside an automatic claw machine surrounded by fluffy stuffed animals. The boy named Ethan, dressed in a Power Rangers T-shirt, apparently felt called upon to climb over the hatch into the plush toy machine – in order to get the coveted prizes.

In contrast to the father, who seems to be nervously pondering in front of the window how he can free his son from the machine, he appears relatively carefree and unimpressed even after the police arrive. After briefly checking the material of the window, the police decided to break the glass to free the child from the machine. The video shows that Ethan promptly follows his father's instructions to slip to the other corner of the machine and turn away. Shortly afterwards, the officers smashed the glass.

Child (3) climbs into cuddly toy machine – father knows: “He loves machines like that”

Ethan was then able to be safely released from the machine and returned safely to his father. According to him, the little one had “the time of his life” during the 15 minutes in which he was trapped in the machine.

The only question is how exactly the three-year-old found his way into the machine. While shopping, the father only briefly lost sight of his son, writes The Guardian. According to the father, it was “unbelievable” how quickly his son got into the automatic gripper. “He loves machines like this. He opened the flap, which he always does. But then in a split second he crawled inside and the flap closed,” says the father.

Boy caught in the claw machine: First incident of this kind for a shopping center

Before the child's parents called the police, they called the company that sells the plush toy machines. There she was asked how much money she had put into the machine or whether the money had gotten stuck, she said ABC Australia. “The only thing that is in the machine is my child, I would like to have him back,” was the father’s answer.

According to a spokesman for the shopping center, it was the first incident of this kind. They are already in contact with the gripping machine provider about measures to avoid such unwanted climbing units in the future. At least three-year-old Ethan isn't likely to get involved in it again, as he assured his father: “Don't worry, Dad, I won't do it again.”

However, moments of inattention do not always end well for parents. In the In January, a child in Hesse burned himself while playing and sustained life-threatening injuries.