Igloo Products Corp. has issued a safety recall of Igloo Marine Elite coolers with stainless-steel latches after a five-year-old boy got trapped inside one. Nicholas Wanes was playing hide-and-go-seek in his home when he climbed into a 72-quart cooler and lowered the lid.
He did not close it entirely and was hiding inside for about two minutes when he pulled the metal latch, which caused the lid to shut, trapping him inside.
“When it got locked, I was scared,” Nicholas told WSVN. “Like, I thought I got locked in there forever. I didn’t notice that the lock closes automatically.”
Luckily, his parents were nearby and heard him desperately banging on the lid. They rushed over and pulled him out of the cooler.
“It was an awful scream as if a child had fallen and gotten really hurt,” Rob Wanes, Nicholas's father, said. “He was right here in the cooler, curled up on his back, and he was screaming, crying. We yanked him out.”
After the incident, Igloo issued a statement apologizing to the family. The company says that they have identified the problem and have made latch replacement kits available to customers who have purchased the coolers.
The recalled coolers have the following item numbers:
- Igloo® Marine Elite 72 quart; Item #00049375
- Igloo® Marine Elite 54 quart; Item #00049374
- Igloo® Marine Elite 94 quart; Item #00049574
- Igloo® Marine Elite 110 quart; Item #00034108