Fishball factory worker undergoes operation after hand gets trapped in meat grinder

Update: Four Singapore Civil Defence Force officers sawed through the nuts and bolts to remove the grinder from its housing. He was taken to hospital with a portion of the grinder still attached to his left arm. Part of the arm was later amputated.

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SINGAPORE - A 28-year-old fishball factory worker, whose hand was trapped in a meat grinder, was rushed to the hospital on Thursday morning, with part of the machine still attached to his arm.

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A 28-year-old fishball factory worker was rushed to hospital early this morning after his arm got trapped in a meat grinder.

An SCDF spokesperson confirmed the incident, saying that they received notice of the incident at 8.24am and dispatched officers to an industrial estate at Woodlands Loop.

A fire engine, red rhino, ambulance and two support vehicles were also dispatched to the scene.

The officers arrived in about 8 minutes and found a male Chinese worker with his left forearm severely trapped in a food grinder machine.

An accident paramedic immediately set up a saline intravenous drip and administered oxygen through a mask to stabilise his condition.

As he was losing a lot of blood, rescuers from the Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Dart) made the decision to remove the grinder from a bigger housing unit and convey the man to the hospital, the SCDF spokesperson said.

At the hospital, SCDF continued to work with the doctors to release the trapped arm from the grinder while medical staff attended to the patient.

"This was a delicate operation as SCDF had to carefully dismantle the grinder using an array of wrenches and spanners," the spokesperson said.

The arm was finally released after about 20 minutes.