A woman has died after becoming trapped inside a clothing donation box in Toronto, Canada.
The woman could be heard shouting for help by witnesses in the city's Bloorcourt Village area in the early hours of this morning. She had become trapped in a charity clothing donation box situated behind a building.
Emergency crews were rushed to the scene and found the woman stuck half inside the box upon their arrival. Firefighters eventually managed to pull her out of the box, but she was showing no signs of life.
The fire service also had to cut some of the donation box away in their attempts to free the woman.
The emergency services then made efforts to resuscitate the woman but were unsuccessful and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police have since said that the woman's death is not being considered as 'suspicious' and the incident has been ruled as death my misadventure.
Residents living in the area told Canadian TV station CP24 that it is not unusual for women from local homeless shelters to attempt to grab things from the charity donation bins.
One woman said: "Someone could have just been trying to get some clothes or even trying to get warm."
This latest case is not an isolated incident in Canada, and donation boxes in the province of British Columbia have now been removed after the deaths of two men after becoming lodged in the charity bins.
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On New Year's Eve, a 34-year-old man was discovered lodged in a clothing bin in West Vancouver by an off-duty doctor. Despite the efforts of emergency services, he was also pronounced dead at the scene.
In total, five deaths have been reported in British Columbia over the last four years.
Back in November 2018, a 32-year-old man was discovered in a similar position in Cambridge, Ontario. Once again, the man was found lodged in the charity donation bin and was pronounced dead at the scene.
It has been suggested that the design of the bins is responsible for the people becoming trapped inside. The hatch that keeps the contents of the bin inside can also trap someone leaning into the mechanism to attempt to remove things from the bin.
Ray Taheri, who teaches Engineering at the University of British Columbia, told CBC: "Unfortunately, in the initial stage of design, they never considered, 'What if someone got inside?'"
"It becomes a human trap."
Featured Image Credit: CBC News