Tech tragedy | Worker crushed by malfunctioning robot arm was 'mistaken for vegetables'

A factory worker was crushed to death by a robot that reportedly mistook him for a ‘box of vegetables’.

The worker, who was employed at a plant owned and operated by the Dongseong Export Agricultural Complex in South Korea, was working close to a robotic arm when the malfunction took place, and died as a result of his injuries.

The man, a robotics company worker, was inspecting the robot’s sensor operations at a distribution centre for agricultural produce in South Gyeongsang province.

One source told The mirror that the robot reportedly malfunctioned and misidentified the workers as a box of vegetables, before attempting to grasp the man, crushing him in the process.