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Homeless Man Nearly Crushed In Garbage Truck Compactor In Brockton

BROCKTON (CBS) - A homeless man was nearly crushed after becoming trapped in a waste management truck compactor Tuesday morning.

The man was sleeping inside a cardboard recycling dumpster when its contents were dumped into the truck during its morning pick up.

The truck's driver, Billy Burt, realized something was wrong when he heard screaming from the cab. He had just begun slowly using the compactor's blade to crush the contents of his truck.

Brockton truck
Firefighters rescue man from garbage truck (Image from Sal Munafo)

"Then I heard a little more desperate 'hey', like a distressful 'hey', and I opened up the door and I stood up and I looked out and I could see the poor guy leaning out the side of the truck out the top," Burt said.

Burt said the man's hand was stuck and he appeared to have trouble breathing.

Brockton truck
Firefighters rescue man from garbage truck (Image from Sal Munafo)

Firefighters were called to the scene and used a ladder to pull the man from the top of the truck. He suffered non-life threatening injuries.

"Right after that I was ready to go straight ahead which would have been the hard pack and this would be a completely different story," Burt said.

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