世界多國出現恐怖小丑 街頭蓄意恐嚇路人!

The "creepy clown" craze that began in the US has gone global, with incidents reported in the UK, Australia and Canada.

美國興起的“恐怖小丑”狂潮已蔓延至全球，英國、澳大利亞、加拿大均有報告相關事件。

The craze began in the US in August with reports of people dressed as clowns trying to lure children into the woods in South Carolina.

今年8月，這股狂潮在美興起，據報道，在南卡羅來納州，有人扮成小丑，試圖引誘孩子進入樹林。

A number of people have also reported being terrified by clowns holding weapons in public.

許多人還報告稱受到在公共場合持武器的小丑的驚嚇。

An eight-month pregnant woman in the UK was forced into premature labor after a person dressed as a clown scared her.

英國一名懷胎8月的女子受到扮成小丑的人的驚嚇後被迫早產。

Police in the UK are warning against participating in the hoax.

英國警方對參與惡作劇的行爲發出警告。

To ease public hysteria and for the safety of Ronald himself, McDonald's is limiting the appearances of its iconic Ronald McDonald clown mascot across the US.

爲了緩和公衆的過激情緒以及小丑羅納德自身的安全，麥當勞正在全美限制其標誌性吉祥物羅納德·麥當勞小丑的露面。

Professional clowns have condemned the craze.

專業小丑對這一熱潮發起了譴責。

"This is nothing to do with clowning, it's to do with people hijacking a costume and for some sinister reason trying to scare people," Rob Bowker, a spokesman for the U.K.-based Clowns International, a clown organization founded in 1947, told the Guardian.

英國“國際小丑”的發言人羅勃·鮑克在接受《衛報》採訪時表示：“這一熱潮和小丑本身無關。這是與那些搶了服裝、並試圖用一些惡毒的理由去嚇唬別人的人有關。”