JACKMAN (AP) – A workplace accident on the day before Christmas claimed the life of a 34-year-old father of three.

Robert R. Robichaud, 34, of Cornville was killed early Wednesday morning when he became tangled in a conveyor belt at Moose River Lumber, the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department said.

Robichaud, a maintenance millwright, was working on a slasher, a machine that strips bark from logs and is operated by a conveyor belt, Deputy Paul York said.

“His arm was sucked into the conveyor belt – maybe his clothing got stuck,” York told the Morning Sentinel of Waterville.

“From there, we really don’t know what happened. It appears he most likely asphyxiated.”

Robichaud was pronounced dead at the scene.

Jeff Desjardins, general manager at Moose River Lumber, said Robichaud had been employed at the mill for about 21/2 years and was working maintenance on the night shift.

Officials from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspected the accident scene Wednesday.