Worker killed by robot on Volkswagen assembly line

An automotive assembly line robot mortally injured a worker at a car factory in Germany this week, a prosecutor’s office said.

The man, 21, was installing the robot at a Volkswagen assembly line on Tuesday in Baunatal, which lies next to the city of Kassel, local newspaper the Hessische Niedersaechsische Allgemeine reported, citing a VW spokesman. The robot gripped him and pressed him up against a metal plate, crushing his chest.

Despite efforts to revive him, the worker, an employee of a third-party vendor, later died in hospital, the paper reported.

As a matter of procedure necessary to have the body released in cases of non-natural death, the state prosecutors’ office said it is investigating to rule out any criminal culpability.

CNN placed calls to multiple press spokespeople at Volkswagen, but was unable to reach one.