14 DAY TRIAL // Jose Malena was found dead in the industrial oven at a seafood plant in Santa Fe Springs, California, on Thursday morning. The 62-year-old man had been an employee at the company for more than six years, and so far no explanation had been provided as to how the man ended up there.
The incident happened at a Bee Foods seafood canning factory, NBC News reports. He was found by colleagues in an oven known as a "steamer machine,” and it appeared the man had been subjected to the extreme temperatures in the oven for a prolonged period of time.
First responders received a call “regarding an industrial accident.” When they arrived at the scene, they concluded the worker “was fatally injured when he was cooked in an oven."
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health is currently investigating the incident. There is a possibility of workplace safety regulations being violated, but no information about how the man died has been made available at this point.
There is a possibility that Malena, an experienced worker with the company, had suffered injuries prior to being locked into the oven.
Following this “horrendous tragedy,” Bumble Bee Foods argue they launched an investigation and closed down the facility over the weekend.
Company representatives sent their condolences to grieving family and friends, in a press statement.
"The entire Bumble Bee Foods family is saddened by the tragic loss of our colleague, and our thoughts and prayers are with the Malena family," Bumble Bee Foods spokesman Pat Menke stated.