A worker was setting up a robot at a Volkswagen factory when the machine grabbed him and pressed him against a metal slab, causing lethal injuries, Localde reported.
The incident occurred on Monday as a Volkswagen factory in Baunatal, Hesse, when the 21-year-old man from another company was working on assembling the robot for a new electric motor production line.
When the robot started up, it grabbed the man and thrust him against a metal slab. The employee, from a company from Meissen in Saxony, suffered severe contusions in his chest area. He was resuscitated at the scene, but then died at the hospital.
Initial conclusions apparently indicate that human error was to blame, rather than a problem with the robot, which can be programmed to perform various tasks in the assembly process.
A spokesperson for Volkswagen told the Associated Press that the robot normally operates within a confined area at the plant and that the company believes the malfunction was due to human error.
Local newspaper Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine (HNA) reported that the man had been standing within the production area with the robot while others were standing in the outer area.
The robot had been the property of the Meissen-based firm for whom the man worked and the machine had not yet been handed over to Volkswagen, the car company told reporters.
Local authorities are now investigating how the death occurred, according to HNA.
Prosecutors are now reportedly considering whether to bring charges and whom they would pursue.
