A man found sleeping in a bin narrowly escaped serious injury when Letterkenny bin collectors saw his knee sticking out seconds before tipping the bin into a lorry.
The refuse workers, working for Panda Donegal, were emptying large commercial bins around 5.30am on Wednesday when the incident happened.
Panda Donegal manager Nicole Brown said the crew was doing its normal commercial waste collection at the time.
Ms Brown said: “They picked up a 1,100-litre bin, which is an industrial bin for commercial customers, and they have a procedure that they follow where they hit each side of the bin before they empty the bin just in case there’s someone in the bin.”
However, on this occasion, it wasn’t until the bin was opened that one of the collection team saw the man’s knee sticking up.
“They pulled the blanket back and there was a fellow in the bin which scared both of them,” Ms Brown said.
The company introduced a country-wide check system for its refuse staff after workers started to find people sleeping in bins regularly in Dublin. However, Ms Brown said this was the first time it happened in Co Donegal.
She told Highland Radio: “If that fellow had continued to sleep, that bin could have gone to the lorry and could have gone in. There are emergency stops on the lorry but sometimes it could be too late.”
She said the collection could have ended in tragedy but for the diligence of staff in following procedure.
