Police on Vancouver Island have confirmed that a man was killed early Wednesday morning after an accident involving a garbage truck near the Moxie’s restaurant in Victoria.
The man was apparently sleeping in the dumpster near the Conservatory of Music, when the bin was picked up and dumped. The driver of the truck did not know there was a man inside until about a block later, behind the Moxie’s restaurant.
“That bin was dumped into the main garbage truck, which then crushed the material inside, not realizing the male was there,” said Victoria Police Department Sgt. Ryan O’Neill.
“Information came up, probably because the male was making noise, and they realized that someone was in the truck. They stopped immediately, called 911 and police, fire and paramedics attended. Despite all efforts to save this male, he succumbed to his injuries.”
The incident happened around 6:10 a.m. Wednesday morning.
Heartbreaking 🙁 https://t.co/eYSCODlRp0
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O’Neill noted this wasn’t the first time a similar incidence happened, and said that a year-and-a-half ago another man was caught in a garbage disposal vehicle, but was rescued with only light injuries.
“It’s sad to lose a local person like this,” O’Neill said. “I’m sure there will be discussions down the road about what could have been done to prevent something like this from happening in the future.”
–With files from Ragnar Haagen
