A 22 year old worker at a garment factory in Kalutara has died after his head got crushed in a clothes printing machine when a co-worker accidentally switched the machine while the young man was cleaning it.
Kalutara North Police said that a young man died in the accident which happened on Saturday at a garment factory in Pokunawatta, Waskaduwa in the Kalutara area. The deceased has been identified as 22 year old Chamara Udayanga of Moragalagoda, Kopiyawatta. Sources from the factory said the workers cleaning the printing machine have to thrust their head into the machine slightly to clean it properly and this is done while the machine is switched off.
While the young man was cleaning the machine, a co-worker is said to have accidentally switched the machine on. It is said that the co-worker was trying to switch on another machine. The young man’s head had got crushed when the heavy metal part of the machine was lowered. Other workers had taken prompt measures to disconnect electricity and take the young man out, but he had been pronounced dead upon admittance to the hospital. The police are investigating the incident.