General12 March 2026

Printing press worker dies following machinery malfunction

A 27-year-old employee at a private printing press in Gorakapitiya, Piliyandala, passed away yesterday (11) after his head became trapped in a printing machine.


Piliyandala Police identified the individual as Milinda Madusanka Wijesinghe, a married resident of Nissanka Road, Pallegama, Deniyaya.


The victim's wife also works at the same establishment, according to reports. CCTV footage from the premises shows the young man performing daily maintenance alongside another colleague when the incident occurred.


While the two workers inspected a technical fault from opposite sides of the equipment, the machine activated automatically, catching the victim's head in its mechanism.


Coworkers rushed him to the Homagama Base Hospital, where he was admitted to the emergency unit.


He later succumbed to his injuries while receiving medical care. Chinthaka Udaya Kumara, the Inquirer into Sudden Deaths for Homagama, conducted an on-site inspection, and a post-mortem examination is scheduled for today (12).


Piliyandala Police continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the event.

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