A Fort Worth Garbage Truck Picked Up a Dumpster with Homeless Man Inside and Killed Him in the Trash Compactor

A garbage truck was making the rounds on Fort Worth's east side at about 6:30 a.m. today when, after emptying a dumpster behind O'Reilly Auto Parts and turning on the compactor, they heard screams coming from the back of the truck. Matt Zavadsky, a spokesman for MedStar EMS, told CBS...

By Eric Nicholson

December 12, 2012

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A garbage truck was making the rounds on Fort Worth's east side at about 6:30 a.m. today when, after emptying a dumpster behind O'Reilly Auto Parts and turning on the compactor, they heard screams coming from the back of the truck.

Matt Zavadsky, a spokesman for MedStar EMS, told CBS 11 that a homeless man, about 45 years old, had been sleeping in the dumpster when the truck arrived. By the time driver was able to stop the compactor, the man was having a heart attack.

An ambulance rushed him to John Peter Smith Hospital for treatment where he later died, according to the Morning News.

A cursory Google search reveals that homeless people are crushed in trash compactors more often than you might expect.

Dumpsters seem to be one of the few places that offers some protection against the elements.

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