Employee at Thermal date packing house injured, airlifted to hospital

An employee at a Thermal date packing house was seriously injured this afternoon and had to be airlifted to a hospital, fire officials said.

County firefighters were called at 3:30 p.m. for a “medical emergency” at the Jewel Date Co., 84675 Avenue 60, according to Jody Hagemann of the Riverside County Fire Department.

A woman who worked at the packing house was found with major injuries, though specifics on what type of injury she sustained and how it occurred were not immediately released.

The victim, whose name was withheld, was airlifted to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, Hagemann said.