A worker at a meat processing plant in the Pacific Northwest state of Oregon is dead of horrific wounds suffered after falling into the meat blender.  Authorities last year had warned the operators that such an accident was possible.

41-year old Hugo Avalos-Chanon worked for a cleaning company contracted by Interstate Meat Distributors, Inc. of Portland.  Investigators say he fell into a running blender.  Another worker had hit an emergency stop button, but it was too late.  It took rescuers a day to disassemble the machine to remove the body.

Dr. Cliff Young, a deputy Oregon medical examiner, said Avalos-Chanon died from "blunt-force injuries and chopping wounds."

Investigators with the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are examining evidence, interviewing witnesses and reviewing records.

An OSHA report on the plant from last October found that machines were not secured from accidents when they were disassembled for cleaning.

The inspector said the plant risked an “unexpected start-up of the machine” that could cause injuries.