Worker, 24, dead after industrial accident in rural Manitoba

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This article was published 22/5/2014 (1188 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRANDON -- A 24-year-old man from the RMàof North Cypress is dead following a workplace accident near Alexander early Thursday.

Shortly after 2 a.m. Thursday, Bluehills RCMPàresponded to an industrial fatality in the RM of Whitehead, about 10 kilometres northwest of Alexander.

"(He)àwas working a night shift when he became caught in an industrial machine," RCMPàmedia spokeswoman TaraàSeel said.

Emergency medical services were dispatched, but the man was declared dead at the scene.

"It's a tragic accident," Lynn Moffat said.

Moffat's husband, Clint, owns Clint Moffat and Sons Ltd., the company the man was working for at the time of his death.

"The whole family including all of the workers, which is appropriately 50 now, are all stressed,"àshe said. "We are a family business, and that means the employees are our family as well. Everyone is really upset. (He)àwas one of our own."

An official said the employee was running a radial telescopic stacking conveyor at the time of the incident.

The machine is designed to telescope and transport rock and sand on a conveyor belt.

There were three other workers on-site.

Moffat said it's unclear what happened, but the worker, who had been with the company for about six months, was familiar with and trained in the procedures of running the crusher, which is commonly used at sand and gravel pits.

She also said the equipment didn't fail.

Manitoba Workplace Safety and Health is investigating.

The name of the deceased will not be released and police continue to investigate.