A 23-year-old father who ‘worked every hour for his family’ was tragically crushed to death by machinery at the recycling plant he worked at.
Dale Mcclelland has been named locally as the victim of the incident at H&A recycling unit in Redruth, west Cornwall yesterday.
The young father is believed to have got caught in a baling machine, which is used to crush newspapers, plastic and cans into square blocks.
Police have said his death is being treated as industrial accident, while his boss, managing director Allan Holmes said he was ‘devastated’.
They taped the site off after the incident at 4pm yesterday afternoon.
Dale Mcclelland has been named locally as the victim of the incident at H&A recycling unit (pictured) in Redruth, west Cornwall yesterday
Police taped off the recycling plant in Redruth (pictured) after the incident happened at 4pm
He said: ‘We are of course devastated that this accident had occurred at our recycling centre.
‘At this very upsetting time we are fully co-operating with the police and the HSE who are rightly conducting their investigations.
‘Our sincere condolences go to Dale’s family, friends and co-workers and we will offer our support to the immediate family for an unspecified period of time.
After he was identified as the victim, heartbroken friends and family took to social media to pay tribute to him.
The 23-year-old father is believed to have become trapped by machinery at the plant
One friend who used to work with Mr Mcclelland told CornwallLive: ‘He was a hard working lad that worked every hour for his family gone but never forgotten RIP.’
Sammy Hendra added: ‘Knew this man since he was three and never hurt a soul. Sleep tight my friend u will be sadly missed.’ While Tom Isaacs called him a ‘top bloke’.
Shane Matthews said: ‘He was a legend, one of the best I had the pleasure to meet.’
Lisa Bradshaw Mitchell added: ‘So tragic.a genuine, friendly chap Thoughts are with all his family. Such a sad time.’
After he was identified as the victim, heartbroken friends and family took to social media to pay tribute to Dale Mcclelland
The plant is believed to be cooperating fully with the police investigation, which is currently branding the incident an ‘industrial accident’