California teen, 19, killed after getting trapped in machine at Vernon Burrito factory while cleaning meat grinder after it suddenly turning on. Authorities investigate.
A California teenager was killed after he was sucked into a meat grinder when the machine suddenly turned on while he was cleaning it at a Vernon food processing facility over the weekend.
The unidentified 19-year-old victim was working at Tina’s Burritos food processing plant in Vernon, as part of the after-hours sanitation crew, when the fatal mishap occurred, according to the Vernon Police Department.
The man was cleaning the meat grinder when it somehow activated and sucked him inside at around 9:30 p.m., VPD Sgt. Daniel Onopa told 6abc.
Worker dies after getting trapped in machine at Vernon burrito factory
Other workers said they heard the teen shouting for help as they tried to turn off the machine, but couldn’t.
Authorities rushed to the scene, but found the 19-year-old dead inside the grinder.
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA) will investigate the industrial accident and try to figure out what could’ve suddenly triggered the meat grinder.
Police don’t suspect any foul play.
Not immediately clear was the company’s overall adherence to worker safety standards and what policies were in place to prevent against unforeseen events.
Vernon is a city five miles south of downtown Los Angeles in Los Angeles County.
In a similar tragedy in 2019, a factory worker in Pennsylvania died after she was either dragged or fell into a meat grinder. The victim, a 35-year-old woman, had been working on a 6-foot-high rolling ladder before she somehow wound up in the machine.
In all, it took police roughly 45 minutes to break down the machine and extract her mangled body from it.
