A mum has died after becoming trapped inside an industrial bread making machine for over an hour as emergency crews desperately tried to free her.
Virginia López Severiano was cleaning an industrial food mixer used to make bread when half of her body became trapped inside the machine.
The 44-year-old was completely trapped and the machine had to be dismantled around her.
She was freed after more 90 minutes and airlifted to hospital where doctors planned to operate on her arm but she died from her injuries.
Fire Chief Phillip McDaniel told said his firefighters used “small tools” to complete what he called a “tedious rescue” that released her.
Chief McDaniel added that the machine at Azteca Market in Selma, North Carolina appeared to be on when she began cleaning it.
Ms Severiano's daughter Miriam Amado-Lopez took to social media to pay tribute to her mum, who she described as the best mum a girl could have.
She wrote: "She taught me resilience, the importance of hard work, and she showed me what true love felt like.
"From a young age my mom did not have the easiest life.
"She started working at a young age to help support her family and eventually decided to travel hundreds of thousands of miles to try to give her family a better chance at a good life.”
The incident was the second death at a North Carolina bread factory within a month.
Bibiana Arellano Delabra, 22, was operating a large industrial mixing machine when “something went wrong” and she was crushed to death at Northeast Foods, which is one of the largest suppliers of buns, rolls and bread products in the US.
The company said it will work with OSHA throughout the investigation.
“We are devastated by the accident that occurred over this weekend that resulted in the tragic loss of one of our employees,” the company said.
“We remain committed to working with OSHA and all pertinent parties to conduct a thorough and comprehensive investigation into this unthinkable tragedy.”
