A 16-year-old employee died Friday at a Mississippi chicken processing plant, a county official said.
The teen died at Mar-Jac Poultry in Hattiesburg, about 100 miles southeast of Jackson, deputy coroner Lisa Klem at the Forrest County Coroner’s Office told CNN. An autopsy was completed, but the results have not been released, Ms. Klem said.
Mar-Jac Poultry said the teen died from injuries suffered in what it described as an “accident” in an emailed statement to CNN.
“On the evening of Friday, July 14 an employee conducting sanitation operations at Mar-Jac Poultry MS LLC’s Hattiesburg, Mississippi poultry processing plant died as a result of injuries sustained in an accident,” the company said. “We deeply regret the loss and send our most sincere condolences to his family and friends.”
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the federal agency that reviews workplace injuries and other labor issues, is investigating the incident and has the “full support and cooperation of the company,” Mar-Jac Poultry said in its statement.
“Our employees are our most valuable asset and safety is our number one priority,” complex manager Joe Colee said in the statement. “We strive daily to work as safely as possible and are truly devastated whenever an employee is injured.”
CNN reached out to OSHA, but the agency declined to comment on the investigation. CNN contacted the Hattiesburg Police Department for comment.
The-CNN-Wire
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