Two workers killed in Wayne County industrial accident

Authorities said that emergency personnel were called to the Goldsboro plant at 6 p.m. An employee who had been working in a large transformer became unresponsive. Two other employees then entered the transformer to help the first employee and both became unresponsive as well.

"One employee went inside a transformer as they were working on it and became unresponsive. Shortly after that, another employee went in there. I do not know if he was trying to help the first one or what the deal was, but he also became unresponsive, followed by a third employee who also became unresponsive," said Maj. Tom Effler with the Wayne County Sheriff's Office.

Employees Dennis Martin, 51, of Goldsboro, and Daniel Craig Anderson, 33, of Dudley, died, and William Sariak, 40, also of Dudley, was listed in critical condition Tuesday in the intensive care unit at Wayne Memorial Hospital.

Authorities did not know what harmed the workers. The incident will be investigated by the Occupational Safety and Health Division of the state Department of Labor.

SPX Transformer Solutions is one of the largest manufacturers of power transformers in the United States. The company employs about 1,000 people throughout the United States at manufacturing facilities in Wisconsin, Texas and Goldsboro.

The company was awarded the North Carolina Department of Labor Silver Safety Award in May for the second year in a row.