Robot crushes contractor to death in Germany

KASSEL, Germany – Prosecutors are investigating the death of a worker who was crushed by a robotic system he was setting up at a Volkswagen plant in the Kassel district of Germany, reported 92 News said Wednesday. Heiko Hillwig, a VW spokesman, told the local newspaper Hessische Niedersächsische Allgemeine that the man — who worked for a contractor and was identified only as being from the German state of Saxony — was killed Monday at a plant in the town of Baunatal, north of Frankfurt, where VW is starting a new production line for electric motors. The robot grabbed the man and pressed him against a metal plate, crushing his chest, Hillwig said. The man was resuscitated but died a short time later at a hospital, he said. The Kassel regional prosecutor's office said it's investigating whether negligence may have been involved and, if so, who was culpable. The contractor, not VW, operated the facility.