Volkswagen Employee Killed By Robot, Journalist Almost Named Sarah Connor Tweets About It, ‘Terminator’ Fans Go Crazy
A Volkswagen employee was killed on Monday by a robot at an assembly plant in Germany.
According to ABC News, the unnamed contractor died at the plant in Baunatal, which is located around 100 kilometers north of Frankfurt. Volkswagen spokesman Heiko Hillwig made the announcement regarding the untimely passing, before adding further grisly details about his demise.
It has been revealed that the 22-year-old was trying to set up a stationary robot when the tragedy occurred. At this point the robot then grabbed the man and crushed him against a metal plate. Hillwig confirmed that another contractor was next to the man when the incident took place. However, he was unharmed.
A preliminary investigation has concluded that human error was the reason for the man’s death. Investigators currently believe that a problem with the robot wasn’t to blame.
The robot in question has been programmed to perform a variety of tasks along the assembly line. This sees it grab auto parts and then manipulate them, all within a specifically designated area.
Volkswagen have decided not to release anymore information regarding the case until the full investigation is complete. Prosecutors are currently considering how and who to bring up charges for the death.
Meanwhile, despite the gravity of the story, a Financial Times journalist who uploaded a tweet detailing the news found herself at the center of a viral storm, all because of her name. Sarah O’Connor originally uploaded the story:
A robot has killed a worker in a VW plant in Germany http://t.co/RRdCnNmbsj
— Sarah O’Connor (@sarahoconnor_) July 1, 2015
Because of the similarity between her name and the lead character in The Terminator franchise, Sarah J Connor, people soon started making quips about her Tweet.
@sarahoconnor_ Ok. I should have thought about my name & its associations before tweeting this! — Sarah O’Connor (@sarahoconnor_) July 1, 2015
@sarahoconnor_ Sigh. I’ve never even watched the films. Now my feed is full of people tweeting me about skynet.
— Sarah O’Connor (@sarahoconnor_) July 1, 2015
@sarahoconnor_ Guys. I don’t know what skynet is. And I wouldn’t follow me – I tweet really boring stuff about unit wage costs and the like. — Sarah O’Connor (@sarahoconnor_) July 1, 2015
@JamesBusher Ugh, this is a bit uncomfortable. A person has actually died.
— Sarah O’Connor (@sarahoconnor_) July 1, 2015
But all of these left Sarah O’Connor decidedly uncomfortable.
Feeling really uncomfortable about this inadvertent Twitter thing I seem to have kicked off. Somebody died. Let’s not forget.
— Sarah O’Connor (@sarahoconnor_) July 1, 2015
(Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
