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Man pinched by scorpion in box of bananas

SOUTH HILLS, Pa. — A South Hills man said he was pinched by a scorpion while reaching for some bananas inside the South Hills Walmart Wednesday afternoon.

According to the man, the incident happened at the Washington Pike store around 2 p.m.

The man, who requested to remain anonymous, said he had his young children with him when he reached into the box of bananas and felt a pinch. When he pulled his hand back, he noticed a scorpion latched onto it.

The man said he flung the scorpion onto the floor and eventually smashed it with a box.

"We're committed to providing our customers with safe, quality food products. As soon as we were made aware of this situation, we alerted our food safety team, our suppliers, and our third party pest control provider, who inspected the product and the store and found no other issues," said Betsy Harden, a Walmart spokeswoman.

According to the man, he was checked out by a doctor, but was not injured. The man said he was told to go to the emergency room immediately should symptoms develop.

The owner of a local exotic pet store told Channel 11 News on Thursday that she has heard of things like this happening before. She also said unless you're allergic, scorpions can be fairly harmless.

"If you're allergic to the venom, you can go into anaphylactic shock just like a bee sting or wasp sting but otherwise, it generally just hurts," said Desiree Brown from Off the Hook pet store in Coraopolis.

WPXI

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