Metalworkers cooked to death inside giant Austrian oven after door closed and 800C furnace was accidentally switched on

An Austrian metalworker accidentally switched on an oven that two colleagues were inside cleaning - leaving them to slowly cook to death.

Detectives investigating the horrific deaths in the massive oven say the pair had tried to rip the insulation off the wall of the oven and clawed at the door in a desperate bid to get free.

The tragedy happened when the automatic door of the oven at the factory owned by the Salzburger Aluminium AG company in Lenz closed.

The giant oven which reaches a temperature of 800 degrees centigrade was then switched on.

Now detectives say the two men who had been sent inside to clean the oven had actually finished the job and left before returning a second time without informing colleagues.

They also failed to instigate any of the four security measures including putting up a sign indicating that they were inside, and also failing to secure the door so that it stayed open.

As a result the door had somehow swung shut and the colleague, believing the cleaning work had finished because he had already seen his colleagues outside and noting the door was closed, had switched the oven on. Read More