Deadly scorpion was found crawling inside a student's package from Chinese fast fashion brand Shein

A university student found a live scorpion crawling around in her package of clothes from Chinese fast fashion brand Shein.

Sofia Alonso-Mossinger, 18, initially thought the poisonous insect was a toy until it started moving.

The electrical engineering student at the University of Bristol said she hastily resealed the bag, took it from her room and called her flatmates for help.

She told the BBC: “I unzipped the outer packaging and saw something moving and asked myself: What is that?”

“I thought I was dreaming. I feel like I can handle spiders and stuff, but it was scary being in my room with a random scorpion.”

She said they were “not exactly thrilled about having a scorpion in the apartment.”

“At first, to be honest, I said we should kill it, and then everyone pointed out that wasn't the most humane thing to do, so we picked it up and put it in a Tupperware container.”

Her roommate Oliver James, a zoology student, transferred the scorpion to a plastic container using kitchen tongs.

“It was a little nerve-wracking,” he said, since no one knew how toxic it was.

Shein told the BBC that she is investigating the incident.

The scorpion, identified as Chinese scorpion or Olivierus martensii, was recovered by officials of the National Center for Reptile Welfare (NCRW).

NCRW's Chris Newman said reports of such stowaways are surprisingly common.

He said his stabbing was “medically significant… potentially life-threatening, but your average adult would just be having a really bad day.”

“It's quite worrying, this is the second time in less than a month that it's happened in this way,” he told the BBC.