RegistryTMR-0135
A robotics company employee in his 40s was crushed to death by a robotic arm at a pepper sorting plant in South Gyeongsang province, South Korea, after the arm confused him for a box of vegetables and pushed him against a conveyor belt.
Fatalityfatalityrobot arm
- Date of incident
- 2023-11-07
- Location
- South Gyeongsang province, South Korea
- Sources
- 33
EscalationFollow-up
Established by press reporting. No regulator or court document is linked to this case yet.
How the event developed
- 2023-11-08Report
A robotics company employee in his 40s was crushed to death by a robotic arm at a pepper sorting plant in South Gyeongsang province, South Korea, after the arm confused him for a box of vegetables and pushed him against a conveyor belt.
bbc.com - 2025-09-18Follow-up
a person, 45, was crushed and killed by a robotic machine while working his shift at Palermo's Pizza's facility in West Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at approximately 6:30 a.m.
foxnews.com
Every claim above traces to one of these
Links are never hidden behind a paywall of ours. Where a copy of the page exists it is linked beside the source with the date it was taken, because news links rot and a dead link next to a saved copy is still evidence. Some copies predate this register: they were made by the Internet Archive before we existed, and the date shown is the date of that copy, not of our visit.
- bbc.comA robotics company employee in his 40s was crushed to death by a robotic arm at a pepper sorting plant in South Gyeongsang province, South Korea, after the arm confused him for a box of vegetables and pushed him against a conveyor belt.2023-11-08copy 2026-10-21tier 1
- telegraph.co.ukA man in his 40s was crushed to death by a robotic arm at a distribution centre for agricultural produce in South Gyeongsang province, South Korea, after the robot mistook him for a box of vegetables while he was inspecting a sensor problem.2023-11-08copy 2026-10-26tier 2
- asiae.co.krAn industrial robot mistook a worker for a box and fatally crushed the person in South Korea.2023-11-08copy 2026-10-12tier 2
- koreaboo.comA factory worker in his 40s was killed at an agricultural produce distribution center in Goseong, South Gyeongsang, South Korea, after an industrial robot mistook him for a box, grabbed him with its arm, and crushed him against a conveyor belt while he was inspecting the robot's sensor.2023-11-08copy 2026-10-13tier 2
- theguardian.comA robotics company worker in his 40s was crushed to death by a robotic arm at an agricultural produce distribution centre in South Gyeongsang province, South Korea, after the robot apparently mistook him for a box and pressed his upper body against a conveyor belt.2023-11-08copy 2026-10-29tier 1
- foxbusiness.comA man in his 40s employed by an industrial robot installation company was crushed to death by a pick-and-place robotic arm at a vegetable-packaging plant in South Gyeongsang province, South Korea, after the robot apparently mistook him for a box of vegetables.2023-11-09copy 2026-10-21tier 2
- hrgrapevine.comA robotics company worker inspecting sensor operations at a distribution centre for agricultural produce operated by Dongseong Export Agricultural Complex in South Gyeongsang province, South Korea, was crushed to death after a robotic arm malfunctioned and grasped him, reportedly misidentifying him as a box of vegetables.2023-11-09copy 2026-10-21tier 2
- metro.co.ukA South Korean worker in his forties was killed at the Dongseong Export Agricultural Complex when a robot arm programmed to lift boxes of vegetables mistook him for a box, grabbed him, and placed him on a conveyor belt which crushed his face and body.2023-11-09copy 2026-10-26tier 2
- ladbible.comA man in his 40s was crushed to death by a robot at a distribution centre in South Korea's South Gyeongsang province after the machine, intended to place boxes of peppers onto a pallet, mistakenly grabbed the worker and thrust him against a conveyor belt, crushing his face and chest.2023-11-09copy 2026-10-26tier 2
- web3cafe.inA robotics company employee in his 40s was crushed to death by an industrial robot arm at an agricultural produce distribution center in South Gyeongsang province, South Korea, after the robot mistook him for a box of bell peppers and pressed his upper body against a conveyor belt.2023-11-09copy 2026-10-30tier 2
- nbcnews.comAn industrial robot's arms grabbed a worker inspecting the machine at a vegetable packaging plant in Goseong, South Korea, pressing him against a conveyor belt and killing him from head and chest injuries.2023-11-09copy 2026-10-26tier 1
- nypost.comAn unidentified worker in Goseong, South Korea, died from head and chest injuries after being seized by a pick-and-place robot and shoved onto a conveyor belt at a vegetable packing plant.2023-11-09copy 2026-10-26tier 2
- globalnews.caA man in his 40s died after a robotic arm at a pepper-sorting plant in Goseong, South Korea grabbed him with its claw, pinning him to a conveyor belt and crushing his chest and head while he was testing a sensor on the machine.2023-11-09copy 2026-10-30tier 2
- independent.co.ukA robotics company employee in his 40s was crushed to death by a robotic arm at an agricultural produce distribution centre in South Gyeongsang province, South Korea, after the arm picked him up and pushed him against a conveyor belt while he was inspecting its sensors.2023-11-09copy 2026-10-21tier 2
- indiatoday.inA robotics company worker in his 40s was crushed to death by a robotic arm at a pepper sorting plant in South Gyeongsang province, South Korea, after the machine pushed him against a conveyor belt while he was inspecting its sensors ahead of a test run.2023-11-09copy 2026-10-21tier 2
- 1news.co.nzA robotics worker inspecting sensor operations at an agricultural produce distribution centre in South Gyeongsang province, South Korea, was crushed to death when an industrial robot pushed his upper body against a conveyor belt, apparently mistaking him for a box of bell peppers.2023-11-09copy 2026-10-21tier 2
- voanews.comA worker sent to inspect an industrial pick-and-place robot at a vegetable packaging plant in Goseong, South Korea, was grabbed and pressed against a conveyor belt by the machine's robotic arms and died of head and chest injuries.2023-11-09copy 2026-10-21tier 2
- mirror.co.ukFactory robot crushes worker to death after mistaking him for a box of vegetables2023-11-09copy 2026-10-23tier 2
- thethaiger.comA 40-year-old factory worker died after a robot at an agricultural distribution centre in South Korea's Gyeongsang Province misidentified him as a vegetable box, lifted him into the air, and pressed him against a conveyor belt, causing fatal injuries to his face and chest.2023-11-09copy 2026-10-21tier 2
- futurism.comA robotics company employee was crushed to death by a robotic arm at a South Korean food handling factory after the robot failed to differentiate him from a box of vegetables and pushed him against a conveyor belt, crushing his face and chest.2023-11-09copy 2026-10-26tier 2
- newsofbahrain.comA robotics company worker in his 40s was crushed to death by an industrial robotic arm that apparently misidentified him as a box while he was inspecting the robot's sensor operations at an agricultural produce distribution centre in South Gyeongsang province, South Korea.2023-11-09copy 2026-10-17tier 2
- borneobulletin.com.bnA South Korean man was killed by an industrial robot2023-11-09copy 2026-10-29tier 2
- timesofindia.indiatimes.comMan killed by robot that mistook him for a box of vegetables2023-11-09copy 2026-10-26tier 2
- wftv.comAn industrial robot at a vegetable packing plant in South Korea crushed a worker to death.2023-11-10copy 2026-10-30tier 2
- cebudailynews.inquirer.netAn industrial robot's arms grabbed and crushed a worker to death at a vegetable packaging plant in Goseong, South Korea, pressing him against a conveyor belt and causing fatal head and chest injuries.2023-11-10copy 2026-10-21tier 2
- complex.comA man in his 40s employed by a commercial robot installation company was grabbed by a robotic arm and pressed against a conveyor belt at a vegetable packing facility in Goseong, South Korea, sustaining fatal injuries to his chest and head.2023-11-10copy 2026-10-21tier 3
- pressreader.comA man was crushed to death by a robot that mistook him for a box of vegetables.2023-11-10copy 2026-10-12tier 2
- tuko.co.keA robotics company employee in his 40s was killed at a pepper sorting plant in South Korea when a robotic arm confused him for a box of vegetables and crushed him against a conveyor belt.2023-11-10copy 2026-10-21tier 2
- foxnews.comRobert Cherone, 45, was crushed and killed by a robotic machine while working his shift at Palermo's Pizza's facility in West Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at approximately 6:30 a.m.2025-09-18copy 2026-10-12tier 2
- independent.co.ukRobert Cherone, 45, was crushed to death by a robotic machine at the Palermo's Pizza frozen pizza factory in West Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Wednesday morning.2025-09-18copy 2026-10-17tier 2
- metro.co.ukRobert Cherone, 45, was crushed to death by a robotic machine while working at the Palermo's Pizza factory at 3900 W Lincoln Avenue in West Milwaukee, Wisconsin.2025-09-19copy 2026-10-26tier 2
- themirror.comBakery manager Robert Cherone, 45, was crushed to death by a robotic machine while working at Palermo's frozen pizza factory in West Milwaukee, Wisconsin.2025-09-19copy 2026-10-26tier 2
- 1011now.comA 45-year-old employee, Robert Cherone, was fatally crushed by a robotic machine at the Palermo's Pizza facility in West Milwaukee, Wisconsin.2025-09-23copy 2026-10-27tier 2
New cases, once a week, by email
Every case added to the register in the last seven days, with its sources. Free, no account, and the register is the only sender.
Right of reply
Named in this case?
Any company named here can submit a response. We publish it in the case unedited, and a request makes the pipeline re-check the case against its own sources within a day. Target turnaround for our reply is five working days.