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Screams from a frightened seven-year-old girl alerted her family to an attempted abduction in Christchurch yesterday, police say.
The girl was sleeping in the lounge of a house in Linwood suburb when she was lifted by an intruder and taken outside about 3am.
Detective Senior Sergeant Todd Hamilton, of Christchurch police, said the intruder entered the house through an unlocked back door.
The man, described as having dark skin and wearing a hat and fingerless gloves, searched through a fridge and pantry in the Hay St house, then went into the lounge, uplifted the sleeping girl and took her into the back yard.
Mr Hamilton said several adults sleeping in the house and a sleep-out at the rear of the property were alerted by the girl's screams.
The incident had been "very frightening" for the young girl and her family.
Mr Hamilton said a car parked in the driveway of the house had been broken into and police wanted to hear from anyone in the neighbourhood whose car had been tampered with.
- NZPA
