Man dies from injuries after being crushed in recycling truck

A 52-year-old man who was sleeping in a recycling dumpster Wednesday has died of injuries sustained when a truck arrived to collect it.

Penticton RCMP said the driver of a large recycling collection truck called 911 just after 6 a.m. Wednesday when he heard yelling coming from the back of the vehicle.

The unlocked recycling dumpster, whichthe collection truck picked up with the man in it, had been dumped into the back of the vehiclewhich proceeded tocompact the load, according to police.

Mounties saidthe victim was inadvertentlycrushed in the process.

Victim taken to hospital

Emergency crews were able to free the man from the truck. He was taken to hospital for medical treatment with whatpolice called life-threatening injuries.

On Thursday, police saidthe man had died.

"It does not appear the male was the victim of crime," RCMPsaid in a statement. "The B.C. Coroners Service is conducting its own, parallel fact-finding investigation into the death."

'Tragic event'

Deaths of this kind are not uncommon. Others have died while seeking shelter inrecycling bins or clothes donation bins.

Police are asking anyone with information about what officers describe as a "tragic event" to call 250-492-4300.

A new provincially-funded shelter is set to open in Penticton. The city had previously brought a lawsuit against the province for deciding to continue to operate a shelter it wanted closed.

The city dropped the suit after the province announced it would move the location of the new shelter.