Car wash employee dies after getting trapped in machinery

Carolina Franks, 26, was killed on 13 January at ZIPS Car Wash in North Carolina

A North Carolina car wash employee died after becoming trapped in machinery at the drive-through business (WLOS)

A North Carolina car wash employee died after becoming trapped in machinery at the drive-through business.

Police say that Carolina Franks, 26, was killed on 13 January at ZIPS Car Wash in Weaverville, which is just north of Asheville in the western part of the state.

“First responders located ... 26-year-old Carolina Franks of Buncombe County, who had apparently become entrapped in equipment located within the car wash,” Weaverville police officials said in a statement. “The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.”

Franks, who police say suffered a “traumatic injury”, was not supposed to be working but agreed to go in when a college “canceled their shift at the last minute” her family told The Asheville Citizen-Times.

“She was special,” her grandmother Ernestine Franks told WLOS. “She loved everybody. She loved animals. She just is a nice young lady.”

An investigation into the incident is being carried out by the North Carolina Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health.

Texas-based ZIPS Car Wash is the largest privately owned car wash company in the US and has more than 230 locations across the country.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with our team member’s family in this time of loss. This is such an unfortunate tragedy,” said company spokesperson Sarah Elizabeth.

“We are working with local authorities and the North Carolina Department of Labor OSHA throughout the investigation, and our Weaverville site will remain closed at this time.”