A homeless man was seriously injured when he fell from a dumpster he was in as the bin was picked up by a recycling truck.
The man was inside the bin in a Surrey parking lot when it was picked up by the truck and lifted up over its hood. He fell out as the bin began to tip to dump its contents into the back of the truck, and landed on his side on the ground next to the vehicle.
The incident was caught on surveillance camera and sent to CTV News by a store owner in the area.
In the video, the driver at first appears uncertain of what to do, but then approaches the man lying on the ground, and clears the debris off him. He then calls for help, and police, firefighters and paramedics all provide assistance.
The 49-year-old had to be taken to hospital for his injuries.
Nearby business owners said they see homeless people climb into and out of the bins daily.
A store owner said he once accidentally threw garbage into a bin on top of a homeless person, not realizing anyone was in the dumpster.
"I think we need to put lids and locks on all of them," the owner said.
It's possible that the man was in the dumpster for protection from the rain, the executive director of the Surrey Urban Mission told CTV News.
"When it's really wet and they don't have a place to go, bins can be dry," Mike Musgrove said.
"It's tough to hear this stuff. It's tough to see the image of this happening."
And the incident isn't the first time someone has been injured by getting caught inside a bin being lifted by a truck. A man in Victoria was injured in 2011, and a Surrey woman was dumped into a garbage compactor in 2006.
In light of the incident, the manager of the recycling company involved is urging its drivers to be extra cautious and check for anything unusual before picking up the dumpsters.
With a report from CTV Vancouver's Michele Brunoro
