The fatality happened last Tuesday, February 17, at the Estonian Cell plant near Kunda, and the Labor Inspectorate says the victim had been working on an elevator conveyor belt when he got caught up in its movement and pulled into the mechanism.

"The incident occurred during maintenance work at a time when production was halted," said Meelis Kuzma, a member of the Estonian Cell board, while Virumaa Teataja reports the deceased was a foreign worker who was employed as an outside contractor.

The incident is the second workplace fatality in 2026 after a 31-year-old man was found dead at a Nova Post office in central Tallinn on January 4; Last year, 3,247 workplace accidents were reported, with six fatalities.

Estonian Cell says it is assisting the contractor and authorities in clarifying the circumstances of the accident; the maintenance had been taking place while the factory was offline due to high energy prices.

The prosecutor's office has initiated criminal proceedings to clarify the exact circumstances of the incident.

Owned by the Austrian Heinzel Group, AS Estonian Cell, operating near Kunda, is an aspen pulp mill which has been in operation for 20 years and is one of Estonia's largest electricity consumers, due to high energy input requirements.

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