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Man critical after being buried under trash in garbage truck for over 2 hours

The man had been apparently sleeping in a Dumpster when he was dropped into the back of the garbage truck.

A Philadelphia Fire Department Truck
A Philadelphia Fire Department TruckRead morePhiladelphia Fire Department / File Photograph

A man who apparently had been sleeping in a Dumpster in North Philadelphia was rescued Monday after being tossed into the back of a garbage truck and buried under a pile of trash for more than two hours, officials said.

The 33-year-old man was reported in critical condition at Temple University with abdominal, hip and leg injuries, police said.

The rescue unfolded at the Kintock Group facility, a halfway house 301 E. Erie Ave., but it was not immediately known if the man was an inmate there or had been dumped into the truck at an earlier stop.

Fire officials said a 911 call came in at 5:28 a.m. from a person reporting screaming coming from the garbage truck at the halfway house.

Using rakes and shovels, firefighters carefully moved and shifted the trash until freeing the man about 7:40 a.m. as TV news helicopters recorded the scene overheard.

This story is developing and will be updated as more information becomes available.