Man Fatally Crushed in Industrial Accident

A young man was killed in an industrial accident at a California farm Wednesday morning.

Martin Valencia, 20, of Dos Palos, California was killed as he was assisting with an auger designed to drill holes in the ground for fence posts at a farm on the 6300 block of Eucalyptus Avenue just before 11 a.m., according to the Merced County Sheriff’s Department.

Valencia’s jacket got caught on a bolt on a shaft that is meant to be used to help control the auger bit from swinging freely. Valencia was crushed in the machine before it could be turned off to save him, the sheriff’s department stated.

Valencia was pronounced dead at the scene.