Chocolate Drowning

chim · Jul 26, 2002

I couldn't help but remember a line from a Smothers Brothers(?) skit years ago about a guy who fell into a vat of chocolate and screamed "FIRE!" because nobody would have responded to "CHOCOLATE!"...........chim

Man Dies In Vat Of Chocolate
Officials Believe Death Was Industrial Accident

POSTED: 8:45 a.m. EDT July 24, 2002

HATFIELD, Pa -- Authorities say a candy factory worker is dead after apparently falling into a vat of liquefied chocolate.

Police say the 19-year-old man was discovered in the 1,200-gallon vat by his co-workers at the factory in Hatfield Tuesday. They believe he had been working on a platform near the opening of the vat, which is used for mixing and melting chocolate.

Nobody saw the worker fall and it's unknown how long he was submerged in the chocolate before he was found.

He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police don't suspect foul play. They say his death is being investigated as an accident.

knucklehead · Jul 26, 2002

A tragedy - especially since I won't be able to buy any Hershey bars for a year now.

Ozarker · Jul 26, 2002

Reminds me of a tour I took once, When I was doing the "sales rep" thing, we got the contract to sell Jim Beam products to the military. Easy profits but that is another story.

I was invited to take a tour of the distillery and at one point we were at the huge mash vats. There was a very large opening at the top so we could look in but we were warned not to get too close. They said the fumes could make you dizzy and you could fall in. They weren't so concerned about us but didn't want to have to dump a few thousand gallons of corn mash to recover a body. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Hawkflyer · Jul 26, 2002

Would that be Hershey with nuts?/w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif

JOR_EL · Jul 28, 2002

Do you hear the thunder of lawyer-feet on their way to Pennsylvania?Does Hershey have deep pockets?Does a bear (live) in the woods?It's 2002, ...if something(chocolate) kills you, it's the mfgr's fault.Whatever happened to "One hand for the ship, ...one hand for yourself." ?Larry