Robot kills factory worker after mistaking him for a box of vegetables and crushing him into conveyor belt

A robot brutally killed a factory worker by pushing him into a conveyor belt after mistaking him for a box of vegetables.

A robot at the Duracell factory in Aarschot, Belgium. Picture: John Thys/AFP

A robot brutally killed a factory worker by pushing him into a conveyor belt after mistaking him for a box of vegetables.

The man, from South Korea, was working through a night shift before tragedy struck, The Sun reports.

The victim, a robotics company worker reportedly in his 40s, had been inspecting a machine’s sensor in a factory located in South Gyeongsang early this morning.

But while the machine was lifting boxes of peppers onto a pallet, it managed to hook onto the man with its metallic arm before horrifically pushing him against the moving conveyor belt.

As the man was forced into the machine, his face and chest were simultaneously crushed.

He was frantically dashed to the hospital, but later succumbed to his severe injuries, according to local reports.

The robot appears to have malfunctioned as it mistook the worker for a box of vegetables, police sources said.

Cops are now preparing to launch an investigation into the site’s safety managers for potential negligence in duties.

An official from the Donggoseong Export Agricultural Complex, which owns the factory, called for a “precise and safe” system to be put in place, in a statement after the tragic incident.

A robot at the Duracell factory in Aarschot, Belgium. Picture: John Thys/AFP

The victim had reportedly filled in to carry out tests originally planned for November 6.

But they were ultimately pushed back two days due to reported problems with the robot’s sensor.

It comes after a US woman died after getting stuck in a bread machine for an hour last year.

Virginia López Severiano, 44, died while cleaning an industrial bread machine at the Azteca Market in Selma, North Carolina.

Half of her body became trapped in the machine, according to the NY Post.

A UK construction worker also died after being injured by machinery at Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, Somerset, in November last year.

Police were scrambled to the site but sadly the man couldn’t be saved and died shortly after.

And in 2021, a worker was killed after getting trapped in machinery at a steel polishing factory.

Raymondo Escobar, 61, reportedly became trapped in equipment at the Geneva, Illinois, factory.

Mr Escobar was taken to an area hospital after the incident where he was pronounced dead, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The cause of death was listed as asphyxia due to a machinery mishap, the coroner said.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission