A 19-year-old sanitation worker was killed after being trapped inside a meat grinder when it was unexpectedly activated at a California factory that manufactures a popular brand of frozen burritos. The teenager, whose name has not been released yet, was faced with this tragedy around 9.30 pm on Sunday, as per the Los Angeles County Fire Department, which received a report of an injured worker in the kitchen area of Tina’s Burritos factory in Vernon, reported ABC 6.The victim was cleaning an industrial food processor as part of the after-hours sanitation crew when the machine unexpectedly turned on, said the Vernon police department, according to the New York Post. Co-workers who heard the young man’s cries for help attempted to shut off the machine, but were unsuccessful. By the time officers arrived at the factory, he had already succumbed to his injuries.Sergeant Daniel Onopa stated that there were no signs of foul play, and the incident appears to be a tragic accident. An investigation by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health is set to look into the worker’s death.Social media users expressed concerns over the safety of workers working in such sectors. “Awful tragedy, why did the machine have power if it was being cleaned? RIP.” Another user commented, “That’s horrible! And there’s absolutely no way this should ever happen. The 2019 incident where a woman fell into one is reckless and negligent, but there should be no power at all when someone is in the machine cleaning it.” In a similar incident, a 35-year-old woman was killed in 2019 in Pennsylvania after being pulled into a meat grinder while operating the machine from a rolling ladder approximately six feet off the ground.
