After swallowing 100 magnets, a New Zealand teen has surgery and has parts of their intestines removed.

A 13-year-old New Zealand youngster who ingested up to 100 powerful magnets that he had bought online had portions of his intestines removed. After the kid had stomach agony for four days at Tauranga Hospital on the North Island of New Zealand, doctors conducted a major operation to remove them.

Inside his intestines, they found that the magnets had connected to create four chains. A week before being sent to the hospital, the youngster reportedly ingested “about 80 to 100 5x2mm high-power neodymium magnets,” according to the New Zealand Medical Journal.

The boy’s identity is still unknown. After eight days in the hospital, he was released.

Following a warning by the government that children may sustain severe injuries if they swallowed tiny, powerful magnets, whether out of curiosity or when playing with them as “mock jewellery,” New Zealand prohibited the sale of these items in 2013.

According to the writers of the New Zealand Medical Journal, it is still difficult to enforce the long-standing prohibition since the magnets are still readily available for purchase on internet marketplaces.

“It is more difficult to regulate products supplied by overseas merchants on large-scale online marketplaces, even though these laws can be enforced locally,” the authors said.

“These platforms are easy to use, especially for kids, and purchases are cheap and don’t always require proof of age,” they said.

According to the study, Temu, a Chinese internet marketplace, was used to buy the magnets. Temu stated it had not yet been able to verify if the disputed magnets were bought via its platform in a statement to US channel NBC News.

“We wish the boy a complete and quick recovery and are sorry to hear about the reported incident,” Temu’s representatives said.

They said, “We take product safety very seriously and keep an eye on our platform to make sure sellers are adhering to the safety laws of the markets they are operating in.”

The marketplace claimed to have inquired about the case’s specifics from the New Zealand Medical Journal. In addition to stating that any noncompliant items will be withdrawn and that sellers who break platform guidelines or local laws will suffer harsh consequences, its staff are examining pertinent listings to make sure they adhere to local safety regulations.