A worker has died in the US after falling into a vat of oil at a facility near Walt Disney World in Florida.

The 61-year-old man slipped and fell into the vat while emptying oil and grease from a tractor-trailer, Emanuel Curry of the Orange County Sheriff's Office told the Orlando Sentinel.

Local news outlets reported the facility is part of a district created to provide municipal services to the Disney theme park.

Deputies said witnesses couldn't pull the man from the oil after he fell in early on Wednesday.

He became overwhelmed by fumes and slipped further down.

The Reedy Creek Fire Department recovered the man's body. His name wasn't immediately released.

In a statement to television station WKMG-TV, Disney said the victim worked for Harvest Power, a Massachusets-based company that converts food waste and yard waste into biofuel, compost, mulch and fertilizer.