Georgia woman nearly crushed after being dropped from dumpster into garbage truck

A woman in Georgia was nearly crushed to death after she was dropped from a dumpster into a garbage truck.

The woman was inside a dumpster near a Captain D’s fast-casual seafood restaurant around noon on Thursday when a garbage truck emptied the dumpster, along with the woman, in Bainbridge in southwestern Georgia, Bainbridge Public Safety Chief Redell Walton told USA TODAY on Friday.

Fortunately, the truck's driver didn't immediately turn on the compactor, instead driving the vehicle to another dumpster a couple of yards away, Walton said. As the driver was emptying the second dumpster, employees of a nearby store who had witnessed the woman falling into the garbage truck ran after the truck and managed to halt operations. The employees also called 911.

When officers and medics arrived at the scene, they could hear someone "screaming and yelling" from inside the truck, Walton said.

Woman received 'significant injuries'

Multiple agencies, including the police and fire department and a state trooper, responded to the accident and saved the woman from the truck and gave her first aid before taking her to a local hospital.

Walton said that the woman had significant injuries, not just from the fall but also from the blades inside the garbage truck that are used to help compact the trash.

She was later life-flighted to another hospital, Walton said. There was no immediate update on her condition.

While it is not immediately clear what the woman was doing inside the dumpster, Walton said that it is likely that she was dumpster diving. Her bicycle was later found next to the dumpster.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X @saman_shafiq7.