Robot Kills Worker at Car Factory

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A worker at a Volkswagen production plants in Germany lost his life when he was grabbed and crushed against a metal plate by a robot.

The 22-year-old man, working as a part of a team installing the robot, died in hospital after a mishap at a plant in Baunatal, 100km north of Frankfurt.  He was setting up the stationary robot when the robot grabbed and crushed him against a metal plate, according to the German car manufacturer.  Heiko Hillwig, from Volkswagen, had put the blame on “human error” rather than the robot.  He believed that robot is programmed in such a way that they operate within a confined area at the plant, and perform various tasks in the assembly process.  This incident was marked by presence of another contractor who refused to divulge any details about the incident.  Now the prosecutors are investigating how the death has occurred and are in dilemma of deciding who to prosecute.

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