Man hospitalized after being compacted in garbage truck

Published 1:30 am Friday, March 10, 2017

EVERETT — A man in his 30s suffered life-threatening injuries Friday after being compacted in a garbage truck.

The man apparently had been sleeping in a trash bin along Highway 99. Bins in that area were emptied into the truck, said Leslie Hynes with Snohomish County Fire District 1.

The truck driver had just turned onto Center Road, south of Everett, about 6:30 a.m. when he heard sounds from the truck. He called rescuers, who freed the man from the machinery. The man was taken to the hospital.

In 2014, a 23-year-old man was found dead at a recycling plant near Everett. A recycling truck had recently unloaded after its collection route. He died from crushing injuries.