A Guatemalan man working under an assumed name at a Missouri cereal plant died after getting stuck in an industrial oven.
The accident took place on Thursday at about 3:06 p.m., Perryville police posted on Facebook.
An alarm was phoned in from the Gilster Marylee Cereal Plant after a man was reported stuck in an industrial oven that was shut down at the time.
Police, paramedics, and firefighters at the scene sought to treat the man, but by the time they were able to reach him, he had died, the post said.
Perry County Coroner Meghan Ellis was summoned to the scene.
Ellis and police revealed that the man was Nicolas Lopez Gomez, 38.
The Guatemalan national was working under the false name of Edward Avila.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will now take the lead in determining what took place, Ellis said.
“OSHA has been contacted concerning this accident and will be conducting its investigation. Our offices will work with them to determine how this occurred.”
Have you ever worked in a factory?
Man found dead after ‘stuck’ in industrial oven at cereal plant: https://t.co/eMjXGL7g8J pic.twitter.com/82wuzfkTXD
— Local 12/WKRC-TV (@Local12) June 30, 2025
A police representative said that the deceased man “was in the process of using a power washer on the machine from the outside,” according to KSDK-TV.
“It is unclear at this time how he ended up inside the machine,” the police representative said.
The company did not respond to KSDK’s efforts to seek comment about the accident.
“The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has an open and ongoing investigation into this incident,” a statement to Fox News said.
“No other information will be available until the investigation has been completed,” the statement said.
Foul play is not suspected in the incident, according to the Daily Mail.
The factory where the tragedy took place is used to make various store brand cereals.
OSHA reported that in the 2024 fiscal year, the agency investigated 826 deaths that took place on the job. That number represented an 11 percent decrease from the 2023 federal fiscal year, when 928 worker deaths were investigated by OSHA.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
