Robot Kills Man at Volkswagen Plant

A robot crushed a worker at a Volkswagen production plant in Germany, the company said Wednesday.

A 22-year-old man was helping to put together the stationary robot that grabs and configures auto parts Monday when the machine grabbed and pushed him against a metal plate, the Associated Press reported. He later died from the injuries. Volkswagen did not release the man’s name.

A spokesperson for the car company told the Associated Press that the robot can be programmed for specific tasks and that the company believes the malfunction was due to human error.

The Brief Newsletter

Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. View Sample

Sign Up Now

Though the company uses some lightweight robots to work on the production line next to humans, a spokesperson told the Financial Times that this was not one of those robots. The type of robot that crushed the employee is usually kept in a cage. The man was working on the robot inside the cage when he was grabbed.

Prosecutors are still deciding whether to bring charges and whom they would pursue.

[AP]

Read next: Driverless Car Maker Denies Claim of Near-Miss With Google Car

These Human Robots Will Haunt Your Nightmares

The new humanoid robots named "Otonaroid" and "Kodomoroid" are pictured during a press preview at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Technology in Tokyo on June 24, 2014.

Yoshikazu Tsuno—AFP/Getty Images

The new humanoid robots named "Otonaroid" and "Kodomoroid" are pictured during a press preview at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Technology in Tokyo on June 24, 2014.

Nicolas Datiche—SIPA

Japanese actor Ken Matsudaira clad in a robot suit, smiles with an android robot in his likeness called "Real Android Matsuken" at a press presentation in Tokyo on November 19, 2013.

Yoshikazu Tsuno—AFP/Getty Images

A woman watches a full-scale figure of a terminator robot "Cameron Phillipes" at a preview of the Terminator Exhibition in Tokyo on March 18, 2009.

Yoshikazu Tsuno—AFP/Getty Images

Inventor Le Trung celebrates Christmas with his robot Aiko on December 23, 2009 in Brampton, Ontario, Canada.

Barcroft Media

A model pokes the face of "Geminoid-F", a humanoid robot shaped to resemble the model at a press conference in Osaka, Japan on April 3, 2010.

Yoshikazu Tsuno—AFP/Getty Images

Telenoid is a teleoperated android robot with a minimal design, created as an attempt to embody the minimum physical requirements for humanlike communication during a press preview at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation Miraikan in Tokyo on June 24, 2014.

Haruyoshi Yamaguchi—Corbis

A humanoid robot, HRP-4C, developed by Japan's Advanced Industrial Science and Technology shows off her skills during the Digital Contents Expo in Tokyo on October 22, 2009.

Yoshikazu Tsuno—AFP/Getty Images

A Nippon Dental University Hospital staff member demonstrates a humanoid robot dental therapy simulator named "Simroid" at the International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo on November 9, 2011.

Yoshikazu Tsuno—AFP/Getty Images

Andoroid Repliee Q2 (R) reacts as graduate student Motoko Noma touches her face at an exhibition during Core Technology Symposium in Tokyo on October 31, 2006.

© Kiyoshi Ota / Reuters—REUTERS

Andoroid Repliee Q2 (L) faces graduate student Motoko Noma (R) at an exhibition during Core Technology Symposium in Tokyo on October 31, 2006.

© Kiyoshi Ota / Reuters—REUTERS

1 of 11

Advertisement

Write to Eliana Dockterman at eliana.dockterman@time.com.