Man’s arm severed below elbow while loading feed from conveyer
John Dineen, a livestock road haulage contractor, was loading animal feed from a conveyor machine into a truck at Dan O’Connor Feeds, Limerick, when the incident occurred at about 8am.
Gerry Clifford, manager of Dan O’Connor Feeds, said everyone at the plant was “shocked”.
“He was working on a conveyor machine here at around eight o’clock this morning when his arm got stuck in the machine,” said Mr Clifford. “I don’t know exactly what happened because I wasn’t talking to him, but I believe he may have dropped something in the machine and instinctively went after it.”
It is believed Mr Dineen’s arm was severed from below the elbow.
He was rushed to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick following the incident. However, yesterday afternoon he was transferred to Cork University Hospital where emergency surgery to reconnect his arm was to take place.
The injured haulier, from Ardagh, Co Limerick, who is married with children, is said to have arrived at the feeds plant on the Ballysimon Rd to load feed onto his truck before transporting it to a nearby farm.
“He was using one of the company’s conveyor machines to load feed onto a truck and he was going to take it to a farm,” said Mr Clifford. “I think he is aged in his mid-40s and he has a family.”
Mr Dineen runs a livestock haulage company in Ballymakeera, Co Cork.
Nobody at the haulage firm could be reached for comment yesterday.
Both a Garda and a Health Safety Authority investigation are under way.
“A section of the [Limerick] plant has been shut down and will be opened when the HSA recommend it,” said Mr Clifford.
“Everyone here is in shock. Please God he will get the arm reattached... We wish him the very best and hope he recovers fully. Please God he will.”
Dan O’Connor Feeds was established in the 1840s and has been on its current site since 1972, where it employs 32 staff.
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