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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted at 5:27 p.m., Sunday, May 14, 2006

Girl loses hand in chocolate factory accident

Advertiser Staff

A fundraising event at a Kalihi chocolate factory turned tragic when an 18-month-old girl had her left hand severed in an accident.

The girl was on a tour of the Menehune Mac Factory Gift Center and got her hand caught in a conveyor belt on Saturday, fire officials said.

By the time firefighters arrived, employees had bandaged the girl and retrieved her hand.

"Our guys just put it in a bag on ice, just to preserve it in case doctors are able to do anything with it," HFD Capt. Chris Ah Mook Sang said.

The toddler was taken to The Queen's Medical Center. Her condition Sunday was not released.

She and her family were attending the company's Fifth Annual Mother's Day Candy Making Event, a fundraiser for the Hawai'i Children's Cancer Foundation.

Menehune Mac President Neal Arakaki said he was investigating how the accident happened.

"We feel so bad about this," he said. "This is something truly out of the ordinary. Everyone's just really shook up."

Arakaki said the factory was sanitized after the accident and that production resumed in a different area of the factory.

"We extend our condolences to the family," he said. "We're definitely going to be following up with them."

Menehune Mac was founded in 1939 and is the oldest existing manufacturer of macadamia nut candies in Hawai'i, according to the company's Web site.