A homeless man from Washington DC was rushed to a hospital for checks after the tent that he was living in was bulldozed by workers that were clearing a homeless encampment.
The man was not named by the authorities.
According to reports, the man was heard screaming from inside the tent as it was picked up by the front loader, which pushed him into the road leaving him trapped inside.
The incident happened in Washington DC, USA, on Monday, October 4,2 021.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services has spoken out.
The spokesperson said that the man had not suffered any visible injuries but was taken to the hospital to be properly assessed.
Officials said that prior to work beginning to remove the underpass encampment, each tent was checked to make sure that nobody remained inside.
Andrew Anderson of the People for Fairness Coalition said:
They had to cut a hole to make sure this person was okay and they brought in the fire department who actually got him out. They didn’t actually take any time to make sure anyone was in there, they just grabbed the tents and took them out.
Witnesses said that screams of the homeless man were heard, however, the machine operators could not hear them.
The leading police officers and homeless advocates watching the clearing process came to rush to help the man.
A local said:
Across the street, we heard the man yelling, but they didn’t hear him when they were right next to them so we jumped over the things on the sidewalk to get to him.
DC officials said that the clearance was ordered as part of a pilot programme that was designed to connect homeless people living in tent encampments with housing facilities.
60 people were living in the camp prior to its removal.
According to DC Officials, 22 were placed in temporary accommodation.
The DC deputy mayor for health and human services, Wayne Turnage, said the clearing process would be reviewed.
A statement that they released said:
There will be a check to make sure there is absolutely nobody in that tent, and then a person will stand there while the Bobcat comes to make sure nobody comes in the tent after the check is made. Whatever the case, we will make sure that it does not happen again.
No other information about the homeless man was shared with the public.
