Worker trying to slaughter pig dies after animal fights back, Hong Kong police say
A 61-year-old man is dead after being knocked down and attacked by a pig in the Hong Kong slaughterhouse where he worked, police told news outlets.
Police told local news outlet HK01 that the man, referred to by his surname Cai, was a butcher in the Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse. Cai was preparing pigs for slaughter when he shocked a pig to knock it out. The shock initially worked, but not for long.
Cai had been about to kill the pig when it regained consciousness and knocked him to the ground, police told CNN.
In the process, the meat cleaver Cai had been holding was driven into his left foot and he was knocked unconscious, according to the outlet.
Another slaughterhouse worker found Cai sometime later and called the police, HK01 reported. Cai was taken to a local hospital where he died from his injury.
A news release from the Hong Kong labor department said it was investigating the accident and that it had sent staff to the slaughterhouse after the death had been reported.
The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department of Hong Kong said in a statement, “Saddened by the death of a staff member of its outsourced contractor in the accident, the department expressed its deepest condolences to the deceased’s family and has requested the contractor to provide all necessary assistance to his family.”
The FEHD also said multiple departments would be investigating the accident “to ensure that staff members are working under safe conditions.”
Police have ruled the death an industrial accident but are not ruling out the possibility there was something wrong with the equipment used to shock the pig, according to HK01.
Google Translate was used to translate the article from the HK01.
This story was originally published January 24, 2023 at 4:27 PM with the headline "Worker trying to slaughter pig dies after animal fights back, Hong Kong police say."
