NEW CUYAMA, Calif. – Investigations are underway after a Bakersfield farmworker was killed while on the job in Santa Barbara County.
Rosa Miriam Sanchez was picking carrots on Sept. 20 when she was suddenly struck by a speeding truck. She was working with others at Grimmway Farm near New Cuyama, a small town about 66 miles west of Bakersfield.
Her daughter, Miriam Sanchez, was working with her on the field. She says she heard screams and hurried to her mother’s side.
“I stayed with her,” Miriam said in an interview with the Spanish news channel Univision. “I tried to talk to her. But I could tell she couldn’t hear me, couldn’t see me.”
The Santa Barbara Coroner’s Office confirmed to KVPR Sanchez’s cause of death was blunt force trauma.
Online reports say Sanchez’s lifeless body laid on the field, as her crewmates were allegedly told to continue picking carrots.
In a statement, the Bakersfield-based Grimmway Farms said it is conducting an internal investigation and will take “appropriate corrective actions” with its contractors. Cal/OSHA is also investigating the incident.
This story is part of the Central Valley News Collaborative, which is supported by the Central Valley Community Foundation with technology and training support by Microsoft Corp.
