A homeless man remains hospitalized with life-threatening injuries at Puerto Montt Base Hospital, in the capital of the Los Lagos region. He became trapped in a waste compactor at a Líder supermarket at the intersection of Presidente Ibáñez and Cardonal avenues.
According to Cooperativa, the man was found unconscious inside the machinery, which is installed in the supermarket's service yard. T13 reported that he is approximately 30 years old and has extremely serious injuries. His identity has not yet been released.
Accounts of how it happened differ. Cooperativa reported that two people were searching through waste inside the industrial container when routine compaction took place, without anyone noticing their presence. Minutes later, staff realized that a person was trapped. The sources do not report what happened to the second occupant.
T13, by contrast, cited information from the Investigative Police (PDI) indicating that the man reportedly entered the premises during the night. The incident was discovered on the morning of Saturday, October 10, when supermarket security staff saw a person inside the machine, which had been activated while he was still inside.
After the alarm was raised, the supermarket activated its emergency protocols. Volunteer firefighters and Emergency Medical Care Service (SAMU) personnel arrived, freed the man, stabilized him at the scene and rushed him to the hospital.
At the Public Prosecutor's Office's direction, detectives from the PDI's Puerto Montt Homicide Brigade and experts from the Forensic Laboratory went to the premises to collect evidence. The unit's chief, Deputy Prefect Carlos Correa, explained that they are working to establish the circumstances of the incident and that it is still unknown why the man went to that area.
Cooperativa clarified that the compactor is in the supermarket's rear yard, a private space that is not a waste disposal site on a public street. The investigation remains open, and the man remains in serious condition.
