A 13-year-old boy from Australia was crushed to death by a rubbish lorry after he and his 2 friends fell asleep inside an industrial bin.
The 2 other friends of the boy survived the incident.
An 11-year-old boy suffered serious injuries when the truck started to empty the container and the other 12-year-old boy managed to escape the incident without any injuries.
The 12-year-old boy was the one that alerted the driver about the incident.
The tragedy happened at around 5:20 am local time on Tuesday in Port Lincoln on South Australia’s west coast.
Paul Bahr, a superintendent, told reporters that afternoon that the 2 friends are currently traumatized.
Detectives are currently trying to find out on why the kids were sleeping inside the bin.
The survivors claimed that they were not homeless.
The Superintendent added:
Just one of the levels of tragedy to this is why these three children thought they needed to be sleeping in the bin. I think it’s fair to say the boys had somewhere to stay. I don’t think it would be fair to classify them as homeless.
The truck driver said that they did not realize that there were children sleeping inside the bin when the incident happened.
Mayor Brad Flaherty of Port Lincoln released a statement about the incident, saying:
It’s a terrible, terrible incident that will have an awful impact on the community as a whole and the families involved. Our heartfelt thoughts are with the families and community members affected.
Staff and students of the school that he boy was attending has been offered counselling.
Rowena Fox, the education director for the Eyre Peninsula, said in a statement:
The immediate priority is arranging counselling and psychological support. Local schools are actively monitoring students and will arrange direct wellbeing support for individuals and in groups where necessary. This is very upsetting news and children will likely process it in different ways.
Inspectors are now investigating the incident.
A spokeswoman for SafeWork SA said:
SafeWork SA offers condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues at this distressing and sad time.
A report is currently being prepared to be presented for the coroner.
Authorities did not reveal any further information about the incident.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the boy that passed away, may his soul rest in peace.