Food manufacturing plant mishap leads to woman’s amputation

Reaction Unit South Africa’s (RUSA) head, Prem Balram said the unidentified woman had been cleaning the machine when she mistakenly switched it on last Tuesday. Her hand was sucked into the machine and crushed, trapping her, Phoenix Sun reported. 

RUSA control centre and paramedics arrived on the scene to find a group of workers outside the factory, added Balram.

Inside the factory, the security officers found the woman with her right hand crushed and stuck inside the machine.

Paramedics stabilised her and the eThekwini Fire and Rescue Department was called to assist in cutting the machine to free her, said Balram.

“Rescue workers eventually managed to cut part of the machine with an angle grinder. The woman was taken to Albert Luthuli Hospital with part of the machine still attached to her hand,” added Balram.

The woman’s hand has been amputated up to her right elbow. She is currently in a critical condition, said Balram.

RUSA head, Prem Balram said the employees were visibly distressed due to the gruesome nature of the incident and the victim was in a state of shock.

In a separate incident, a man’s arm was amputated after he was rescued from a building which collapsed in Power Park, Soweto, Johannesburg in June last year.

“The man was taken out after 3am, and it was difficult for the trauma doctors to access him so we had to gain access from under the site,” said Johannesburg emergency management service.

“His arm was amputated while he was still trapped because we could not move the building from his hand, because it could destabilise the area and cause a secondary collapse,” added Johannesburg emergency management service.

– Caxton News Service