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The tragic accident happened at around 7:45 pm on Tuesday at an agricultural products distribution center in Goseong-gun, South Gyeongsang Province.
The approximately forty-year-old employee of a robotics company wants to check the sensors of the robot when it grabs him and pushes his upper body against the conveyor belt, crushing his chest and face.
Interchanged with vegetable box
The man was immediately taken to hospital but succumbed to his serious injuries, Yonhap news agency reported, citing police.
The robot apparently malfunctioned and mistook the victim for one of the boxes of peppers it was handling.
Multiple accidents involving robots
A similar accident has already occurred in South Korea: in March, a South Korean man was seriously injured after being trapped by a robot in an auto parts factory.
Fatal accidents involving industrial robots have also occurred in Germany and the US: in June 2015, a 22-year-old man was killed by a robot at the Volkswagen factory in Baunatal when it caught him and pushed him against a metal plate. The employee of an external company from Saxony suffered serious chest bruises. He was resuscitated, but later died in hospital.
A study published earlier this year by the American Journal of Industrial Medicine found that 41 people were killed by industrial robots in the US between 1992 and 2017. The majority of accidents occurred during maintenance of the machines, and not while they were doing their job. (AFP/neo)
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
