A worker has died after being crushed by a machine in a recycling plant in a rural part of Hong Kong.

Police on Monday said that emergency personnel were called to the facility on Fan Kam Road near Ta Shek Wu village in Pat Heung, shortly after 4.30pm and found a man in his 40s trapped in what was described to be a crusher.

The machine is used to crush rubbish and destroy it for recycling. It is usually the first step of the recycling process.

Police said the man became trapped in and was declared dead at the scene after firefighters extracted him from the machine.

Further details were not immediately available, according to police. Officers have initially classified the case as an industrial accident and investigation was under way.

The Labour Department said it was following up on the incident and had sent staff to the plant to look into the incident.

The Association for the Rights of Industrial Accident Victims also said it had allocated personnel to offer assistance to the relatives of the victim.

There was a fatal industrial incident earlier this month, in which a worker died after his head was crushed by a packaging machine in a factory in Tai Po.

Initial investigation by police into the Tai Po case suggested the worker was inspecting the machine when a mechanical part descended from height, hitting and crushing his head.