SÃO PAULO, Brazil – Marfrig Alimentos SA, Latin America’s second-largest beef producer, was fined 1 million reais (US$572 million) for a toxic gas leak in a leather-tanning plant in central-western Brazil that killed four workers on Jan. 31, Bloomberg reported.

The leak at the Bataguassu plant left another 20 people overcome by fumes, three of whom are still in hospital, São Paulo-based Marfrig said in an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg. The plant has been shut down while the cause of the accident is being investigated by the state’s police, Marfrig said.

Marfrig Alimentos, led by Chief Executive Officer Marcos Antonio Molina, is a leather supplier to Volkswagen AG and General Motors Co. and has the capacity to produce about 14,000 pieces of leather a day, according to its website.