Woman Falls in Dumpster, Gets Compacted by Garbage Truck

A New Hampshire woman fell into a dumpster at her Manchester housing complex on trash collection day and was picked up by a local garbage truck—where fire officials say she was compacted up to four times before the driver noticed she was inside.

The woman, who has not been identified but was described by neighbors as a 60-year-old resident, was rushed to a hospital in serious condition Monday but was expected to survive, according to local reports.

“In 32 years, I’ve never seen anything like this my whole career,” Manchester Fire Department Battalion Chief Bob Beaudet was quoted as telling local news outlet WMUR. “It’s alarming, because you don’t really think it’s true. You don’t think it really happens, but in this day and age, times are tough, and people do different things. So, that was definitely one for the books,” he said.

Fire officials say the woman told them she’d somehow fallen into the dumpster while throwing out her trash, Boston 25 News reported. It was not clear how long she was trapped inside the dumpster.

Neighbors reportedly watched as the whole nightmarish scene unfolded and firefighters scrambled to rescue the woman. “All you heard was screaming,” neighbor Amanda Czzowitz told Boston 25.

“My kids are home from school, and they’re watching. I was like, ‘Girls, once you see her come out, I don’t want you watching,’” Matthew Czzowitz told the outlet.