A woman in her mid-30s has died after becoming trapped in a charity clothing bin in Toronto, according to overnight reports.
Police and paramedics were called to the area in Bloorcourt Village at around 6:30pm local time, finding the woman partially trapped in the charity donation box. She was attended to by emergency personnel, who performed CPR on her, but she was subsequently pronounced dead on the scene.
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Police spoke to media following the incident, asserting they did not know how the woman came to be trapped in the bin, but ruled out any potential foul play. Instead, they ruled the incident a case of misadventure.
Entrapment – A woman has been located partially inside a clothing donation box. Police on scene say she is vital signs absent. CPR in progress. Dovercourt Rd near Bloor St. pic.twitter.com/2O70IAop4X
— Tony Smyth (@LateNightCam) January 8, 2019
Reports from the CBC suggest that the woman, identified only as Chrystal, was a rough sleeper with a history of health and addiction problems who was likely trying to find warm clothes from inside the bin.
The death has prompted Toronto Mayor John Tory to initiate a review into the common practice of clothing donation bins, investigating the design of the contraptions and the now-obvious safety concerns, questioning whether they’re the most effective method of collecting donated clothes off the street, and reviewing their positioning in and around the city, particularly with regards to their proximity to shelters and crisis accomodation.
Remarkably, she is the seventh Canadian person to die in similar circumstances in recent times. A 34-year-old man died after becoming trapped in a bin in West Vancouver in December, while a 32-year-old in Ontario died in similar circumstances in November. All bins in West Vancouver were removed following the December incident.
The spate of deaths have lead to advocates in Canada labelling the bins “death traps.”
