Robot Crushes Man to Death in South Korea Mistaking Him for a Vegetable Box

A robot in South Korea crushed a man to death after it could not differentiate him from a box of vegetables. This was reported by the BBC's Russian service, citing the South Korean news agency Yonhap.

According to reports, a 40-year-old employee of a robotics company was examining a robot whose sensor had malfunctioned the previous day. The robot's arm mistook the man for a vegetable box, grabbed him, and pressed him against a conveyor belt, crushing his face and chest.

The man was rushed to the hospital, but efforts to save his life were unsuccessful.

As per Yonhap, the incident occurred at a pepper sorting factory. The deceased was checking the robot's sensors ahead of a trial run scheduled for November 8. The robot was designed to lift boxes of peppers and place them on straw mats.

The testing had initially been planned for November 6 but had been postponed due to issues with the robot arm's sensor.

Following the incident, a spokesperson for the Donggoseong exporting agricultural complex, which owns the factory, released a statement calling for the creation of a "precise and safe" system.

A similar incident occurred earlier this year in South Korea when a 50-year-old worker at an auto parts factory was severely injured after being caught in the path of a robot arm.