dumpster nappie May 9, 2001 NationalPost.com

Man found buried alive in Saskatoon landfill 'I'm amazed he survived. They usually don't come out alive': Fell asleep in trash bin

Greg Pender The StarPhoenix

SASKATOON - A man who fell asleep in a city garbage bin was picked up by a rubbish truck, compacted and dumped into a landfill site yesterday.

The 36-year-old was only minutes away from being further crushed when he was found by two men dumping garbage at the landfill site.

Fire and ambulance personnel used shovels to extricate the man from a stacked pile of trash before they could load him on to a stretcher for transport to hospital.

He suffered fractures to his jaw, arm and ribs. The man, who told police he had climbed into the bin for shelter, is expected to remain in hospital for some time. He is being examined for a possible spinal injury.

Derek Silbernagel and Darryl Herzog were dumping rubbish yesterday when they heard moaning from a pile of garbage.

"I couldn't believe it. I thought it was an animal at first or something," said Mr. Silbernagel. "There was lots of moaning. We dug some garbage from around his head. His whole body was covered. He kept moaning, 'Someone help me', over and over again."

Dan Swerhone, district manager for Canada Waste Services, said, "I'm amazed he survived. They usually don't come out alive.

"When you think about it, it's a 14-foot drop on to a steel floor and then you are squeezed after that."

Mr. Swerhone said the driver of the truck picked up the bin containing the man somewhere on his route in the city's southwest, between 4 a.m. and 8:30 a.m, likely not far from the dump.

The truck, which can carry up to 40 cubic yards, picks up bins and dumps them over the cab into a 'packer' storage unit, which compresses the loads to one-fifth their original size.

"Our safety manager has told us about the only thing that can be done is that if there is a bin which has the potential for having someone inside it is to make some noise. But it is a fairly noisy process because it's steel-on-steel. It should wake somebody up," said Mr. Swerhone.

"It brings up the question, how many don't we find?"

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), May 09, 2001

Answers

The man was identified by MIT cyber-sleuths to be a chronic poster to an obscure Internet forum, Unc's Wild, Wild, West where he uses the screen name "Capn Fun".

Interpol thinks he may be the international gigolo, Raoul. Developing.......

-- (Matt_Drudge@fedora.city), May 09, 2001.

I think a more fitting title to the thread would be

"It's a 14-foot drop on to a steel floor and then you are squeezed after that..."

-- (@ .), May 09, 2001.

Whew!!!

One helluva of a lil trip,from now on I'm stayin' in the south,where people bang on the dumpsters before unloading em'.The Canadians are so impolite,disturbing a good solid nap,how rude.

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), May 09, 2001.

I guess I'm gonna have to change persona's again.Raoul has been outed and Interpol will not rest till I am apprehended,drats.

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), May 09, 2001.

LOL!!!

-- (cin@cin.cin), May 09, 2001.