A pig in a slaughterhouse in Hong Kong apparently attacked a butcher who was about to slaughter him last week, resulting in the man’s death.
The incident involved a 61-year-old worker who was employed at the Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse. Local law enforcement said that he was getting ready to kill the pig after shooting it with an electric stun device, but then the pig woke up and unfortunately knocked him down, CNN reported.
He was discovered unconscious by a coworker and he was also holding a 15-inch meat cleaver and had a foot injury, according to the police. The man was transported to the hospital and later pronounced deceased. The police have also pointed out that the cause of death has not been established.
Local press has identified the deceased butcher as Cai, according to the New York Post. It is also unclear what happened to the pig. The animal’s fate has reportedly not been advertised or discussed in accounts about the incident.
In a press release, the Labour Department said, it “is investigating a fatal work accident that happened in Sheung Shui this afternoon (January 20) in which a man died.”
“The [Labour Department] immediately deployed staff to the scene upon receiving a report of the accident, and is now conducting an investigation to look into its cause,” it added.
“The Labour Department is saddened by the death of the person and expresses its deepest sympathy to his family,” the local Labour Department said in a statement, per CNN.
“We will complete the investigation as soon as possible to identify the cause of the accident, ascertain the liability of the duty holders and recommend improvement measures. We will take actions pursuant to the law if there is any violation of the work safety legislation,” a department spokesman stated, according to the outlet.
The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) said it was “deeply saddened” about the passing of the outsourced worker.
In a press release, it noted that it is “very concerned about the work accident.”
“Saddened by the death of a staff member of its outsourced contractor in the accident, the department expressed its deepest condolences to the deceased’s family and has requested the contractor to provide all necessary assistance to his family,” the release noted.
It also said that the slaughtering production is working as usual and the fresh meat provision is not impacted.
It also stated that the FEHD has requested that the contractor “fully co-operate with the investigation” and “has also reminded the contractor to strictly abide by the relevant occupational safety and health requirements in accordance with the contractual terms” in order to make sure that workers are carrying out their tasks in a safe environment.
According to a 2021 report, domestic pigs are usually calm but if they are bothered, they can become fierce and forceful. They can cause serious harm to humans by biting, kicking, and running over them. Sometimes mother pigs are also more protective of piglets and can act in a more combative manner.
Several other workplace tragedies took place in Hong Kong last year.
Last year, a man died while working on a Hong Kong construction site when around 30 steel beams fell on him. He was the main source of income for his family and was survived by a teenage daughter and a wife, according to Fay Siu Sin-man, head of the Association for the Rights of Industrial Accident Victims.
“I feel angry and disappointed to see such industrial accidents occur one after another. There must have been safety loopholes involved,” Siu said.
In an unrelated incident, another man died when he was worked at a construction equipment storage location. He was working to fix a road roller when a section of it hit him. Law enforcement was looking into what led to the incident.
In June, two employees passed away after they fell from a platform that was hanging in the air. In a tragedy, the structure that the platform was hanging on fell down. The LD said it was going to look into the incident to see if the contractor the workers were employed by was responsible.