A Guatemalan working at a Perryville, Missouri, cereal plant died after getting trapped in an industrial oven that was shut down.
The Perryville Police Department said its cops went to Gilster-Mary Lee’s facility at 3:06 p.m. Thursday and tried, alongside fire and emergency service personnel, to help Nicolas Lopez Gomez, 38, who was working under the alias Edward Avila.
Mr. Gomez “was in the process of using a power washer on the machine from the outside. It is unclear at this time how he ended up inside the machine,” a police spokesperson told St. Louis’ KSDK.
The police said that by the time they reached the victim, he was dead. Authorities have not specified Mr. Gomez’s exact cause of death.
Perry County Coroner Meghan Ellis said in the PPD release that her office contacted the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and will team up to investigate Mr. Gomez’s death.
Gilster-Mary Lee said in a statement that “the company extends its sincere sympathies and condolences to his family, friends and co-workers.”
