Man Compacted in Trash Truck Gets HurtKANSAS CITY, Mo. - A man sleeping in a trash receptacle was injured Thursday after being dumped into a trash truck and then compacted. The extent of the man's injuries is not clear, said Joe Vitale, battalion chief with the Kansas City Fire Department.
Talk about getting trashed!
The incident happened early Thursday at a shopping center on U.S. 40, east of downtown Kansas City. As the waste-truck worker was driving away, he started the compacter. The driver heard screams coming from the front of truck, where he had dumped trash from the receptacle, Vitale said.
Help! I'm being repressed!
Tom Coffman, spokesman with the waste company, Deffenbaugh Disposal Service, said the driver quickly stopped the compactor. "He jumped in and tried to dig the guy out, and found out he couldn't," Coffman said.
A file cabinet in the trash heap had pressed against the man's legs. The driver called 911 and firefighters arrived and rescued the unidentified man.
It's amazing what some people throw away.
Coffman said the man was lifted over the top of the truck and then dropped 12 to 15 feet from the receptacle to the truck. The compactor has a pressure level of about 2,000 pounds per square inch.