Woman survives trash compactor after she fell into a dumpster and was thrown into a garbage truck

A woman survived a lengthy but unknown amount of time in the back of a garbage truck when she was flung into the vehicle after falling into a dumpster while allegedly throwing out her garbage.

The Manchester, New Hampshire, woman "fell into a dumpster while she was throwing away her garbage and was scooped up and driven away during trash pick-up," reported WMUR-9's Arielle Mitropoulos.

The driver of the garbage truck said that he only saw the woman in the back of the truck because of a camera located inside the vehicle.

Local witnesses also said they could hear the victim screaming.

"They came to pick [our garbage] over here, and [the driver] heard screaming, so we thought something really bad was out there happening," one man said.

By the time the driver noticed the woman was inside the vehicle, the garbage truck had already compacted its components four times.

"In 32 years, I've never seen anything like this my whole career," said fireman and Battalion Chief Bob Beaudet. "It's alarming, because you don't really think it's true."

The chief's comments seemed to allude to the idea that the woman was possibly searching for items in the trash.

"You don't think it really happens, but in this day and age, times are tough, and people do different things," he added.

City officials didn't know exactly how long the woman been in the dumpster, but the fire chief said she's very lucky the driver noticed she was in there.

Shockingly, Beaudet said that when he spoke to the garbage truck driver he noted that this had happened before.

"I talked to the driver, he seemed to be okay. He said this wasn't the first time that this happened to him. So, that was definitely one for the books," Beaudet said in disbelief.

The woman was pictured being lifted out of the back of the trash-collecting vehicle on a stretcher by fire crews. Rescuers had to use a crane in order to complete the rescue. She was taken to nearby Elliot Hospital, where she was reported to have suffered only minor injuries, despite the trash compaction.

The woman reportedly lives in the neighborhood.

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