Police say a man who died in Victoria Wednesday morning may have been in a dumpster that was picked up by a garbage truck.
Police were called to the 1300 block of Vancouver Street just after 6 a.m. to reports of an incident involving the garbage truck.
They arrived to find a man with life-threatening injuries. Firefighters and paramedics arrived and took over, and the man was rushed to hospital where he later died.
“I witnessed the driver up on the cab, listening in to the box of the garbage truck, and then eventually the fire department got a ladder in there, removed the body, they tried to resuscitate him on top of the truck,” said Al Riopel, a construction worker who was at a nearby construction site when the incident happened.
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The Victoria Police Department (VicPD) said the initial investigation suggested that the man was inside the garbage truck’s box area when he was injured, and that he may have been in a dumpster which was picked up by the truck.
It’s believed the man was either dumpster diving or sleeping in the dumpster when the truck picked it up. The truck then drove for about a block before the driver realized what had happened.
VicPD spokesperson Bowen Osoko said efforts to revive the man failed.
“Sometime between that and the hospital, he appears to have succumbed to his injuries,” he said.
“He was pronounced dead at the hospital. This is both a tragic and unusual incident in our city.”
Progressive Waste Solutions, the company that owns the truck, says it is cooperating fully with the investigation.
In a statement, the City of Victoria said it does not regulate the collection of waste by commercial operators, and as such there are no city bylaws requiring dumpsters to be locked or secured.
“It’s fully understandable how people can congregate around dumpsters because there’s a sense of security that you can sort of hide behind and things like that,” said Grant McKenzie, spokesperson for the nearby Our Place Society which provides services to the homeless.
“But it’s heartbreaking to have somebody end up dying from that.”
It’s not clear yet if the victim was a member of Victoria’s street community. But Our Place had about a dozen shelter beds available overnight.
The garbage truck driver was not injured but was traumatized and is being offered support.
Police have identified the man who died, but have not released his identity pending notification of next of kin.
Police and the BC Coroners Service are now investigating.
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