A man died from his injuries after he fell 45-feet down a trash pit in Lower Merion Township Saturday afternoon.
The Lower Merion Refuse Department was accepting household trash and recycling as part of a Fall Clean-Up Event at the township's Koegel Public Works Complex at 1300 N. Woodbine Avenue. A 68-year-old Lower Merion resident was unloading rubbish from a U-Haul truck at the complex at 12:54 p.m. when he fell 45-feet into the trash pit.
Three fire companies, including Penn Wynne and Norristown, responded to the scene. The firefighters called in high angle rescue teams who repelled down the pit with ropes, attached them to the victim and lifted him out. In all, the rescue took one hour and 20 minutes, according to officials.
The man was taken to the Lankenau Medical Center where he later died from his injuries at 2:30 p.m. Officials have not yet revealed the man's identity.
The Fall Clean-up Event was cancelled for the rest of the day after the accident. It reopened Sunday at 8 a.m.
