Archive · 21 Aug 2026
Five-Year-Old Chinese Girl Swallows 50-Gram Gold Bar, Recovers
A five-year-old girl accidentally swallowed a small gold bar while playing at home.
The bar weighed 50 grams and was about four centimeters long.
An X-ray showed that it was stuck in her stomach.
Doctors worried it could scratch her stomach or cause serious bleeding.
Her family first went to several small clinics, but they could not remove it.
The family then took her to Beijing Children's Hospital.
Doctors used a camera and a tool called a snare to carefully pull out the bar.
The operation took only a few minutes but required great care.
The girl recovered and had stable vital signs, while some people online questioned whether the gold bar should have been within her reach.
A five-year-old girl in northern China reportedly swallowed a 50-gram gold bar while playing at home.
An X-ray showed the smooth, four-centimeter bar lodged in her stomach.
Her family visited several small clinics before taking her to Beijing Children's Hospital.
Doctors removed the bar through intraoperative endoscopy using a snare in a delicate procedure.
The girl recovered with stable vital signs, while social media users debated parental supervision.
- Who
- A five-year-old girl and doctors at Beijing Children's Hospital.
- What
- The girl swallowed a 50-gram gold bar, which doctors removed from her stomach.
- When
- She was admitted last Sunday, August 16; the year is not specified.
- Where
- The incident occurred in northern China, and treatment was provided at Beijing Children's Hospital.
- Why
- The girl reportedly swallowed the bar accidentally while playing at home.
Incident and Safety Warning
Parental Responsibility Concerns
How the swallowing happened
Incident and Safety Warning
The reports describe the swallowing as accidental and say it happened while the girl was playing at home.
Parental Responsibility Concerns
Some social media users questioned how a five-year-old gained access to an expensive, dangerous gold bar.
Who should prevent similar incidents
Incident and Safety Warning
The case was presented as a warning to keep choking hazards and other dangerous objects away from small children.
Parental Responsibility Concerns
Other users said parents should monitor children's behavior and ensure hazardous items remain out of reach.
- Child's age
- Five years old
- Gold bar weight
- 50 grams
- Gold bar length
- 4 centimeters
- Initial finding
- The bar was lodged in the stomach, according to an X-ray
- Treatment
- Intraoperative endoscopy and removal with a snare
- Hospital
- Beijing Children's Hospital
- Outcome
- The bar was removed and the girl's vital signs stabilized
