A garbage collection crew in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki prevented a potential tragedy after discovering a homeless man inside a waste container moments before it was emptied into a compactor truck.

The incident occurred during an overnight shift as two municipal sanitation workers were carrying out their regular collection route in heavy rain. While lifting a dumpster into the rear-loading mechanism of the truck, they noticed movement inside the bin.

“I saw a hand among the rubbish,” one of the workers, Thodoris Karakotas, said. “It was shocking. The man shouted, and luckily the compactor was at a point where it could be stopped.”

The second worker, Anastasios Maskalidis, immediately activated the emergency stop mechanism, halting the compactor before it could operate. “I pressed the stop button without thinking. We heard a voice but didn’t know where it came from. We lifted the press and pulled him out,” he said.

The man, a 46-year-old homeless individual, had been sleeping inside the bin and was injured during the incident, suffering fractures to his leg. Emergency services, including ambulance crews and police, were called to the scene. He was transported to a hospital in Thessaloniki for treatment.

City officials later met with the two workers and praised their swift response, saying their actions prevented what could have been a fatal accident.