A woman tragically suffocated after becoming trapped halfway inside a charity donation bin while attempting to retrieve clothing.
She was found stuck in the pink bin on West Federated Roadway in Plantation, Florida, around 6:45 a.m. on Friday.
An employee at the nearby Children’s Learning Center noticed her as they arrived for work and immediately called 911. Unfortunately, emergency responders found her deceased upon arrival.
Police reported that the homeless woman appeared to have been trying to retrieve clothes and shoes from the donation bin when she fell inside and asphyxiated.
“At this time, it looks like this incident was accidental, but our detective bureau is conducting a full investigation,” said Plantation Police.
Authorities are still working to identify the woman and notify her next of kin. The medical examiner will determine the exact cause of death.
Tragically, several people across the US and Canada die each year after becoming trapped in charity donation bins — with more than 20 cases recorded between 2007 and 2019.
The woman was found partially lodged in a pink donation bin on West Federated Roadway in Plantation, Florida, at around 6:45 a.m. on Friday.
The donation bins are designed with a front hatch that opens using a handle and then self-closes for security and ease of use.
People typically get stuck when trying to retrieve clothes or property that accidentally fell inside during a donation.
Some homeless individuals have occasionally climbed inside for shelter, only to find themselves trapped.
In a tragic incident in February 2017 in Pennsylvania, Judith Permar, 52, wasn’t even trying to take clothes out. She stood on a stool to reach the hatch while donating clothes at 2 a.m., but the stool slipped, trapping her arm inside. She broke her arm and wrist and remained stuck for six hours with her feet dangling, eventually dying of hypothermia.
Deaths in these situations usually result from suffocation, either because the air inside runs out or due to chest compression when trapped halfway inside. Starvation is also a risk.
Additionally, those stuck upside-down can suffer strokes from blood pooling in the head or heart attacks.
Police said the homeless woman seemed to have been trying to retrieve clothes and shoes when she fell into the bin and asphyxiated.
An employee at the nearby Children’s Learning Center spotted the woman upon arriving for work and immediately called 911, but she was already deceased when police arrived.
In 2018, homeless woman Kaily Land tragically died after falling headfirst into a donation bin in Petaluma, California, when the hatch closed behind her.
Her mother, Darcey Kingsley, filed a lawsuit against the container manufacturer RPI and the operator Recycle for Change, arguing they should have been aware of the dangers.
“The clothing donation box was dangerous in that people who attempted to retrieve clothes could become stuck and potentially asphyxiate,” the lawsuit stated. “Recycle for Change… were aware of this danger, or should have been aware, as there have been dozens of similar incidents across North America.”
Two years earlier, a 42-year-old woman died in a similar incident in nearby Alameda.
University of British Columbia engineering professor Ray Taheri called such bins “death traps” after two fatalities occurred within weeks in 2019.
“They get stuck there. They try to crawl in, but the further they go, the more trapped they become,” he told CTV.
Taheri suggested safety improvements, such as making the openings too small to fit through, adding motion detectors, or installing emergency release handles inside the bins.
