On Wednesday, Volkswagen confirmed that a German robotics worker died this week after an assembly robot in a VW plant grabbed the man and pressed him against a metal plate, the Associated Press reports.

VW spokesperson Heiko Hillwig said the exact cause of the accident is not known, but initial findings suggest human error was to blame. From The Local:

The incident occurred on Monday as a Volkswagen factory in Baunatal, Hesse, when the 21-year-old man from another company was working on assembling the robot for a new electric motor production line. When the robot started up, it grabbed the man and thrust him against a metal slab. The employee, from a company from Meissen in Saxony, suffered severe contusions in his chest area. He was resuscitated at the scene, but then died at the hospital. Local newspaper Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine (HNA) reported that the man had been standing within the production area with the robot while others were standing in the outer area.

According to NBC News, prosecutors are currently investigating who—if anyone—is legally culpable for the death.

[Image via AP Images]