CNN —
A butcher died Friday while attempting to slaughter a pig in Hong Kong, the city’s police said.
The 61-year-old butcher, who worked at the Sheung Shui slaughterhouse on the northern outskirts near the border with mainland China, was thrown to the ground by the struggling pig and suffered a wound from a 40-centimeter (15-inch) meat cleaver, police said CNN.
The butcher was about to kill the pig – which he had already shot with a stun gun – when it regained consciousness and knocked him over, police said.
A colleague found the man unconscious with a cleaver in his hand and a wound on his left foot, police said. He was taken to the hospital and later pronounced dead.
The cause of death has not yet been clarified, the police said.
The city’s employment office said it was launching an investigation.
“The Department of Labor is saddened by the death of the individual and extends its deepest condolences to his family,” it said in a statement.
“We will complete the investigation as soon as possible to determine the cause of the accident, determine the liability of those liable and recommend corrective measures. In the event of violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, we will act in accordance with the law,” said a spokesman for the department.
The city’s Food and Environmental Sanitation Department, which manages livestock slaughterhouses, issued a statement with condolences to the man’s family.