CHICAGO — Responding to a Chicago Tribune investigation, some major retailers have suspended sales of Magnetix toys linked to one death and 27 intestinal injuries.

The Tribune had bought recalled versions of the popular toys from Toys "R" Us, eToys, Amazon.com, Walgreens and Wal-Mart in recent weeks. It is against Illinois law to sell recalled toys.

Toys "R" Us Inc. said it was halting Internet sales and clearing store shelves of the magnetic building sets. Online retailers Amazon, eToys and KBtoys.com also stopped selling the toys and said they planned to send customers who had bought them a warning about intestinal injuries.

At issue is a confusing recall in which government regulators and the toy's manufacturer gave conflicting instructions on which versions of Magnetix were hazardous. The retailers decided to halt sales until the government and the company can clarify which boxes are safe.

"We quarantined all items," said Sheliah Gilliland, a spokeswoman for eToys Direct Inc., which operates www.eToys.com and www.KBtoys.com.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, or CPSC, originally recalled 3.8 million boxes of Magnetix in March 2006. After repeated inquiries from the Tribune, the agency expanded that recall in April to cover another 4 million boxes.

During both recalls, the CPSC allowed retailers to sell certain Magnetix toys because the manufacturer, Mega Brands, said it had improved them to ensure that embedded magnets would not come loose. When swallowed, the powerful magnets — not much bigger than baby aspirin — can connect in the intestines and tear through a child's bowels.

The CPSC told the Tribune that only boxes preprinted with a warning to customers about the danger of intestinal injuries are excluded from the recall. That preprinted caution label, the CPSC said, signifies that the toys inside are the newest, improved versions of Magnetix.

But Mega Brands gave retailers conflicting information.

The boxes the Tribune purchased did not have the caution label, including one at a Niles, Ill., Wal-Mart late last month. A Wal-Mart spokeswoman said, "We are looking into the facts at the specific store, but we always instruct our stores to remove recalled products."

The Tribune gave Walgreen Co. the address of the Park Ridge, Ill., store selling the recalled toys. Walgreen said it was investigating.

A spokeswoman last week said she called the store manager, who insisted that all Magnetix toys on the shelf carried the caution label about intestinal injuries.

The Tribune returned to the store the next day. None of the boxes on the shelves carried such a label.