"Man dies in shucking machine accident in New Bedford" by Maria Sacchetti and and Catalina Gaitan | Globe staff | Globe Correspondent, January 17, 2014
Federal officials are investigating the violent death of a man caught in machinery Thursday while working the night shift at a seafood-processing plant in New Bedford.
Victor Gerena, 35, was cleaning a shellfish-shucking machine at Sea Watch International around 1:30 a.m. when he “became entangled in a rotary turbine engine,” said New Bedford police.
Police said in an e-mail that it took the Fire Department nearly an hour to free Gerena after partially dismantling the machine. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and police are investigating. An autopsy was planned.
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration sent an inspector to the plant on Antonio Costa Avenue on Thursday morning to interview witnesses and gather information. The investigation is expected to take several weeks, said Ted Fitzgerald, a spokesman for the agency….
Gerena’s death renewed concerns about workplace safety following the fatal choking last year of a bakery worker in Malden whose apron was caught in machinery.
See:
Malden man indicted in suburban bank robbery spree
City fines bakery $21k for safety violations
Death brings perils of immigrant workers into view
In December 2011, another worker died in Taunton after his hand was stuck in an industrial hummus grinder….
Related: Man dies in industrial accident at Taunton hummus plant
At Sea Watch Friday, co-workers grieved the loss of a hard-working man they said had been with the company for 18 years….
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