Chaos erupted at an Easter egg hunt in Sacramento when adults launched in trying to grab sweets for their children.

The event was an attempt at breaking the record for the world's biggest, with 500,000 eggs laid out for thousands of youngsters.

But it descended into mayhem as parents raced into the field armed with baskets of their own.

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Chaos: An attempt at the world's biggest Easter egg hunt in Sacramento became shambolic on Sunday

Mayhem: Children as young as two were pushed to the ground as adults invaded the children-only event

'There was no organization at all, they all trampled each other. Little two- and three-year-olds were crying.

'The parents were scooping up all of the eggs for their older kids and it was horrible,' mother Tessa Moon told CBS.

Another mother, Kori Houser, told Sacramento Bee her toddler Chase only got three eggs: 'It was crazy. Adults were trampling over us.'

Footage of the hunt, which did not break the world record because they missed the deadline to apply, shows children as young as two being squashed by teenagers and adults weave between them picking up candy.

According to Sacramento Bee, toddlers were seen crying and parents were being pushed around in the calamity.

Eventually, the paper reported, a screaming match broke out between parents.

Enraged parents said older children were rushing around to snap up candy meant for youngsters

The event, which did not break the world record, was raising money for victims of human trafficking

Children were presented with 500,000 eggs on the Capitol Mall lawn on Sunday

Divided: Some families left half-way through to escape the chaos

However, the organizers urged people to remember the reason for the event: to raise money for survivors of human trafficking.

They spent $10,000 transporting 510,000 plastic eggs from Florida.

Children raced to collect as many as they could, and later exchanged them for candy.

A VIP off-shoot of the event featured some plastic eggs stuffed with food vouchers. It cost $20 to take part.

'We’re doing this to raise awareness for Blue Heart International the nonprofit my wife and I started,' Blake McCall, founder of Blue Heart International, told CBS.

'We’re really passionate about helping children rescued out of human trafficking in our community.'