An American woman has died after getting caught in a conveyor while trying to recover an AirPod she dropped under it, authorities say.
Alyssa Drinkard, 21, dropped the AirPod below the conveyor while on shift at a plant for Club Car in Georgia at around 9.45pm on Friday, according to an incident report from the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.
Fellow employee Fae’Zsha Smith, who witnessed the incident, told investigators that when Ms Drinkard tried to get the earbud from under the machine, she got caught in the chain that moves the conveyor.
Due to the way Ms Drinkard was pinned, the witness “was not able to get her out, so she called for maintenance to come and shut the machine down,” the report says.
Workers at the company, which makes golf carts and other vehicles, began taking the conveyor apart once the machine was down and called 911, the report adds.
Emergency personnel freed Ms Drinkard “by cutting the metal frame from around the conveyor and pulling her out,” investigators wrote, adding she still had a pulse as emergency personnel performed life-saving measures on her before she was hospitalized.
Club Car confirmed to The Augusta Press that a worker on Friday night sustained critical injuries at its primary manufacturing facility in Evans and later died.
“First responders were immediately notified, and we thank them for their quick response to provide medical care and transportation to the hospital where the worker unfortunately later passed away,” the company said.
“Our sincere condolences and thoughts are with the family, friends and all impacted by this loss. We are working with authorities and the contractor in an investigation to determine the facts about what led to the incident.”
