Girl, 13, crushed by stampeding shoppers racing for toilet paper

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By VT

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As of the most recent situation report from the World Health Organization, there have been 179,112 confirmed cases of COVID-19 around the world, and 7,426 deaths. These numbers are increasing every hour.

With many people now self-isolating, people are flooding to supermarkets in order to stockpile their homes with necessary items. One of the more infamous items people are rushing out for is toilet paper.

Now, per news.com.au, a 13-year-old girl has recalled the moment she was left "in tears" after being stomped on by a stampede of people rushing to buy toilet rolls.

Speaking to The West Australian, the girl's mom - who is currently wheelchair-bound as a result of a recent operation - says she visited Coles in Baldivis, Perth, with her daughter and nine-year-old son in order to buy some snacks and toilet paper.

Related - Check out this leaked security footage from Aldi showing shoppers rush for toilet paper:
[[jwplayerwidget||https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/08jVcVBa-izxriqNH.mp4||08jVcVBa]]

However, once the doors opened, the mother says she was quickly separated from her daughter as shoppers flooded through the doors.

The mom told the newspaper: "She was pushed to the ground and then stood on by adults who had no care in the world for a child on the floor. People were walking over her while she was crying on the ground just to get what they wanted."

[[imagecaption|| Credit: PA Images]]

After the mad rush, she found her daughter in tears on the floor.

"I am shocked at how people were acting this morning even before the doors opened. People pushing, people telling people to get back in line," the mother said.

Following the incident, the mother took her daughter to get x-rays on a swollen knee and the family is now waiting on the results.

Despite being left "shaken", the mother praised Coles' staff for their compassionate response to the young teen's ordeal - revealing that they took her daughter to safety and put ice on her knee. The mom said: "Once [the manager] had been told what had happened he took myself and my children straight out the back and got ice to put on my daughter's knee.

A spokesperson for Coles has confirmed that they would be looking into extra security measures in the wake of recent panic buying. The spokesperson said:

"Coles takes the wellbeing of our customers and team members seriously and we are constantly reviewing security measures to manage the unprecedented levels of demand we are seeing in our stores.

"We ask that customers to continue to show compassion towards fellow customers and team members at this challenging time."

Girl, 13, crushed by stampeding shoppers racing for toilet paper

vt-author-image

By VT

Article saved!Article saved!

As of the most recent situation report from the World Health Organization, there have been 179,112 confirmed cases of COVID-19 around the world, and 7,426 deaths. These numbers are increasing every hour.

With many people now self-isolating, people are flooding to supermarkets in order to stockpile their homes with necessary items. One of the more infamous items people are rushing out for is toilet paper.

Now, per news.com.au, a 13-year-old girl has recalled the moment she was left "in tears" after being stomped on by a stampede of people rushing to buy toilet rolls.

Speaking to The West Australian, the girl's mom - who is currently wheelchair-bound as a result of a recent operation - says she visited Coles in Baldivis, Perth, with her daughter and nine-year-old son in order to buy some snacks and toilet paper.

Related - Check out this leaked security footage from Aldi showing shoppers rush for toilet paper:
[[jwplayerwidget||https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/08jVcVBa-izxriqNH.mp4||08jVcVBa]]

However, once the doors opened, the mother says she was quickly separated from her daughter as shoppers flooded through the doors.

The mom told the newspaper: "She was pushed to the ground and then stood on by adults who had no care in the world for a child on the floor. People were walking over her while she was crying on the ground just to get what they wanted."

[[imagecaption|| Credit: PA Images]]

After the mad rush, she found her daughter in tears on the floor.

"I am shocked at how people were acting this morning even before the doors opened. People pushing, people telling people to get back in line," the mother said.

Following the incident, the mother took her daughter to get x-rays on a swollen knee and the family is now waiting on the results.

Despite being left "shaken", the mother praised Coles' staff for their compassionate response to the young teen's ordeal - revealing that they took her daughter to safety and put ice on her knee. The mom said: "Once [the manager] had been told what had happened he took myself and my children straight out the back and got ice to put on my daughter's knee.

A spokesperson for Coles has confirmed that they would be looking into extra security measures in the wake of recent panic buying. The spokesperson said:

"Coles takes the wellbeing of our customers and team members seriously and we are constantly reviewing security measures to manage the unprecedented levels of demand we are seeing in our stores.

"We ask that customers to continue to show compassion towards fellow customers and team members at this challenging time."