Man Mistakenly Loaded Into Garbage Truck Survives Being Compacted, Gets Rescued By Two Dozen Firefighters

By Andy Kalmowitz
San Francisco Fire Department members freeing a man trapped in a garbage truck SFFD via X, the everything app
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It might sound stranger than fiction, but a man was rescued from the inside of a garbage truck in the early morning hours of September 2 after he was accidentally loaded into the back of the vehicle. Passersby could apparently hear someone yelling from inside the truck, and thankfully they flagged down the driver.

Over two dozen members of the San Francisco Fire Department responded to the scene at around 4:10 a.m. in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco, frantically picking through trash to find the man who was completely buried under a giant pile of debris, according to KTVU FOX2. This all started when a Recology driver picked up a dumpster and emptied it into the back of his truck. Firefighters say the man was digging around in there before it was dropped into the rear of the vehicle. If that wasn't nutty enough, before he realized someone was trapped back there the driver actually used the truck's compactor once, but it's not clear if the injuries the main sustained were due to the machine, the fall, or being buried.

Trash day

San Francisco Fire Department members freeing a man trapped in a garbage truck SFFD via X, the everything app

While he remained trapped as 25 firefighters manually picked through refuse, paramedics managed to reach his arm to administer IV medication for his injuries, FOX2 reports. After more than two hours of work, the man was freed and taken to a local hospital around 7 a.m., according to SF Gate. Video posted by the SFFD shows the man being extricated from the truck with a large white tarp and put onto a waiting stretcher before being taken to the hospital.

He was conscious at the time, but the full extent of his injuries isn't known. That being said, San Francisco Fire Department Captain Mariano Elias told SF Gate that he was "talking the entire time" during the rescue. Police plan to interview him at the hospital to figure out exactly what he was doing in the dumpster.

After he was taken away, Recology workers used construction equipment to clear out the giant pile of trash left on the street, loading it into a new dumpster that definitely did not have anybody in it.

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