Man Dies after Falling in Chocolate Vat

July 9, 2009

Camden N.J. – A man died after falling into a vat of melted chocolate Wednesday morning.

The man was identified as Vincent Smith II, a 29 year old man and has just recently started with the company.

According to Camden County D.A. spokesman Jason Laughlin, Smith was standing on a nine-foot high platform loading chunks of raw chocolate into a melting tank when he fell in around 10:30 a.m.

After falling, Smith was then struck by the agitator (a paddle-like mixing device) in the head and was killed.

Co-workers rushed to save Smith and one was able to turn off the machine but they were not able to pull out the injured man from the vat.

Firefighters later came and pulled out the body from the machine.

The facilities are rented by Cocoa Services on the 700 block of N.36th Street in Camden from Lyons & Sons, Inc. The company is known to mix and melt raw chocolates for food and candy manufacturers like Hershey Foods.

The family is now awaiting the chance to talk to the officials of the company wondering if anything could have been done to prevent the accident like the usage of safety harness.

OSHA is now investigating if there were any safety violations in the plant.