IKEA recalls 27M dressers after two children die

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa., July 22 (UPI) -- IKEA on Wednesday recalled about 27 million chests and dressers after two children died from the furniture falling on them, consumer safety officials said.

The home goods company issued a recall on all IKEA brand children's dressers taller than 23 1/2 inches tall and adult dressers taller than 29 1/2 inches tall.

The notice was prompted by incidents in 2014, in which dressers fell on top of and killed two children. In February, a 2-year-old boy in West Chester, Pa., died after a six-drawer MALM chest 48 3/8 inches tall fell over on him, pinning him against his bed. A 23-month old child in Snohomish, Wash., also died in June 2014 after a three-drawer MALM chest 30 3/4 inches tall tipped over.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is calling the alert a recall, but customers are not expected to return the dressers and chests in question to IKEA. Instead, the company is offering a free wall-anchoring kit for all items in question.

Consumers whose dressers aren't anchored to the wall are encouraged to move the items to a place where they can't be accessed by children until they can be anchored at a future date. For more information about the repair process, visit www.IKEA-USA.com/saferhomestogether.