Man dies in Cartagena after hiding in bin emptied by refuse lorry

A man has died in the port city of Cartagena, near Murcia in south-east Spain, after being crushed inside a bin lorry.

The victim had hidden in a communal refuse container to evade police following an alleged theft, moments before dustmen arrived to empty it.

The truck driver is said to have activated his vehicle’s compaction system to unload the container’s contents in his bin lorry without realising the victim was inside.

The horror incident occurred in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The driver is understood to have stopped the crusher after being alerted by colleagues, but it was already too late.

Emergency responders could do nothing to save the man and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Firefighters had to remove his body from the inside of the refuse truck before it was taken away.

The truck driver received medical attention after suffering a panic attack.

A spokesman for the National Police in Murcia confirmed the dead man was allegedly being hunted by police after taking a rucksack.

He said: “He was seen by witnesses stealing a rucksack belonging to a homeless man and police lost him as they tried to intercept him.

“That was because he had hidden inside the rubbish container.”

A source added: “Unluckily for him he hid where he did just before the bin lorry arrived and as it always does activated the compaction system to empty the contents in the back of the vehicle.”

No details have been released about the age of nationality of either the dead man or the homeless person he allegedly stole from.