Utah Woman Dies After Being Sucked Into Industrial-Sized Bakery Mixer

A Utah woman died during an accident in a Salt Lake City grocery store when she was sucked into an industrial-sized bakery mixer on Wednesday morning.

Carmen "Jackie" Lindhardt, 45, was operating the mixer inside the bakery at a Ream's grocery store in Sandy when she reportedly became lodged inside the machinery, the Associated Press reported. Sandy Police Sgt. Dean Carriger said that Lindhardt was mixing ingredients in the 2-feet deep, 2-feet wide bowl when a piece of her clothing allegedly was caught in the mixer. As she was sucked into the machinery, Lindhardt began screaming and a co-worker quickly came to her aid.

"She had already been sucked down into the machine," Carriger told the AP. "Those things are designed to pull a great amount of torque to knead the various kinds of breads."

Lindhardt was pronounced dead immediately at the scene.

Police are still investigating the circumstances surrounding Lindhardt's death, and her autopsy results are expected to arrive within three weeks, according to KSTU-TV. The Utah Occupational Safety and Health Division is conducting a separate investigation into the accident.

“We're not necessarily investigating the result of the accident," said Chris Hill, director of Utah Occupational Safety and Health Division, KSTU reported. "We're investigating whether or not there was safety and health standards that were violated.”

Ream's closed briefly following the accident and sent this statement to KSTU:

Our thoughts and condolences are with the Lindhardt family at this difficult time. We are working closely with the Sandy Police Department as they continue investigating this accident and we have temporarily closed our bakery to determine the cause of this tragic accident and to provide additional safety training and procedures to our team members. The care, safety and well-being of our team members are of the utmost importance to us. We are providing grief counseling and additional services to all of our team members.”

Lindhardt's family is still in shock. Her younger sister, Maria Silva, told KSTU that Lindhardt, whom she called her protector, was devoted to Pablo, her only son.

“Her son was her everything to her," Silva said. "No matter how tired she was, she'd come home from work and cook for him, do whatever she needed to do for him."

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