Shock moment

Student finds live scorpion in Shein parcel

The 18-year-old found a live scorpion in her Shein package.

(Bild: AFP)

A Bristol University student experienced a moment of shock when she discovered a live scorpion in her parcel from fashion company Shein instead of the shoes she was expecting. The 18-year-old Sofia Alonso-Mossinger initially thought the animal was a toy, but then it moved - and the situation suddenly became serious.

"It was pretty scary," she told the BBC. "I thought it was a toy, then it moved." With the help of her housemates, she was eventually able to get the venomous scorpion into a tub before an expert came to collect the animal. The situation was particularly nerve-wracking for housemate Oliver James, who is studying zoology and used kitchen tongs to get the dangerous animal into a plastic container.

Never expected anything like this
Despite her flatmate's quick reaction, the incident came as a shock to Alonso-Mossinger: "I thought I was dreaming - a scorpion in my room was the last thing I expected."

The BBC shared a video of the creepy find on Twitter X: 

Second find already
The incident caused a stir and prompted discussions about safety standards for international deliveries. An employee of the National Centre for Reptile Welfare, the organization that collected the animal, explained that this was the second time a Chinese scorpion had been found in less than a month. 

"Potentially life-threatening"
The sting was "medically significant ... potentially life-threatening, but an average adult would just be having a really bad day". Fortunately, the student escaped with a scare.

China-based fashion company Shein said it had carried out an internal investigation and all standard procedures had been followed, so everything had been done correctly.