Goal has recalled the Pillowfort weighted blankets after reporting a fatal incident involving young girls. 

The retailer recalled greater than 200,000 weighted blankets from the brand sold from December 2018 through September 2022, CNN reported this week. 

The supposed child-friendly products were found to pose a risk of suffocation since they might trap kids inside in the event that they unzipped them and entered the blankets. 

Goal’s move was in response to the recall the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced Thursday for the Pillowfort blankets to be retrieved on account of the risks they pose. 

In its press release, the federal government agency highlighted an incident involving two girls, aged 4 and 6, who got entrapped in the quilt of a blanket and died of asphyxiation in North Carolina in April. 

“There is a zipper component, it sort of acts like a duvet cover where you may zip up and down the quilt of the weighted blanket. That is a priority for very young children who could unzip it and get into it and turn out to be suffocated that way,” Daniel Park, the medical director of the Pediatric Emergency Department at UNC Health, was quoted as saying by ABC7 News.

“That was the mechanism by which, unfortunately, those 2 children died in North Carolina. A few of these weighted blankets are quite heavy in relation to the body weight of some very young children, and that might be a hazard in itself as well,” he added. 

Goal has also received 4 more reports of youngsters getting entrapped within the blankets, prompting the recall of the 204,000 products sold. Those that will return the item will probably be entitled to a refund. 

The China-manufactured blankets measure 60 inches long and 40 inches wide. Each weighed about 6 kilos. They got here in multiple colours, including unicorn white, space navy, blue, gray, pink, buffalo plaid red, unicorn pink and blue constellation. The product retailed for $40. 

Consumers who bought the product should contact Goal at 800-440-0680 to receive instructions on returning them by mail or to any Goal store.