A young girl was pricked with multiple used needles on a Melbourne tram. Source: ThinkStock
EXCLUSIVE: A young girl was pricked with multiple used needles when she sat on a Melbourne tram seat, according to a witness.
The girl was travelling outbound on the 59 line, which travels from Elizabeth Street in the CBD and terminates at Airport West, 11km northwest of the CBD. The needles were concealed on her seat, according to a post on the user-generated website reddit.
"The needles were jammed into the back and bottom of the seat, between the cushions. Angled outwards," the witness explained.
"The child was crying and distraught. Don't blame her either, probably doesn't realise what the implications could, but hopefully won't be."
Melbourne's Yarra Trams confirmed with news.com.au that an incident occurred about 4pm on Wednesday, but a spokesman insisted that the needles were capped, facing inward, and neither mother or daughter were harmed.
According to the reddit user, who confirmed his story to news.com.au, Yarra Tram inspectors "jumped on board at the same moment", but his post did not include details on what happened next.
The girl was about 8-10 years old and was travelling with her mother.
"Yarra Trams does have a report of two items being removed from a Route 59 tram on Wednesday, 8 January 2014 following a report by a vigilant authorised officer," said a spokesman for the company.
Yarra Trams CEO Clement Michel. Source: News Limited
"The tram driver was immediately informed and a response coordinated by our Operations Centre to have the items quickly and safely removed.".
Yarra Trams said, at the time of publishing, it had not yet received an incident report or "feedback case" from the victim but "would welcome a report via the Public Transport Victoria call centre on 1800 800 007".
The transport company said its employees at depots, mobile officers and cleaning contractors have specialised equipment to safely dispose of any harmful materials.
"We actively interrogate daily incident logs to look for any patterns in where or when these rare incidents occur," the spokesman said.
"Yarra Trams does recognise the seriousness of this issue and our employees conduct a walk through at the end of each trip to look for litter and other objects."
The reddit thread also detailed a new style of game where people jab unwitting strangers with fresh needles "to scare the sh*t out of them".
"It's done from behind in the back of the arm or leg," the user wrote.
"You feel the prick of the needle but might not realise what it is and just think you bumped into something sharp until you see some f***er with a needle".
Yarra Trams operates more than 32,000 services and carries about 500,000 passengers through its services each week.
"Incidents of harmful objects being left on trams are extremely rare," the spokesman said.
Victorian police could not confirm if the incident had been reported.
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