Friday, August 18, 2006

A 21 year old man fell into a tank of chocolate and was stuck waist deep in it for two hours on August 18 in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Darmin Garcia, an employee of a company that supplies chocolate ingredients, said he was pushing the chocolate down into the container because it was stuck but it became loose and he fell in. However police chief Randy Berner said that he was told by Mr. Garcia that he climbed into the tank.

It was in my hair, in my ears, my mouth, everywhere,” said Garcia, who has worked at the company for two years. “I felt like I weighed 900 pounds (400 kg). I couldn’t move.”

“It was pretty thick. It was virtually like quicksand,” said Mr. Berner. “It’s the first time I’ve ever heard of anything like this,” he added.

He fell into 70 gallons (450 L) of dark chocolate that was being kept at 110°F (43°C). Co-workers, police and firefighters tried to free the man but could not until cocoa butter was used to thin the chocolate. He only suffered minor injuries and was released from hospital.

When asked whether he still had a taste for chocolate he said, “Not so much anymore.”