A technician has been killed by robot at Volkswagen factory in Germany, the car company has confirmed.
The external contractor died after the robot he was installing grabbed and crushed him against a metal plate.
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The accident occurred at a manufacturing plant in Baunatal, about 100km (62 miles) north of Frankfurt.
"Our thoughts are with his family," a VW spokesperson told The Independent. "We are of course carrying out a thorough investigation into the incident and cannot comment further at this time."
The robots are programmed to carry out various tasks in the assembly process and they typically have no contact with humans as they are kept behind metal cages. In this case, the employee was inside the cage when the accident occurred.
The company insists the robot did not suffer a technical defect and said the accident was down to human error. But German prosecutors are deciding whether to bring charges and if so, to whom, according to local news agencies.
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