West Vancouver closes donation bins after man's death

West Vancouver has temporarily closed clothing donation bins in the district after a man died when he became trapped inside one of the steel boxes on New Year's Eve.

The34-year-old man was found lodged in the binnear Ambleside Park just before 8:30 a.m. PT Sunday. Police said it appeared to be "a very tragic but accidental death."

On Wednesday, the district announced all its donationboxes would be closed until further notice as they look into "options for removing them or using bins that are more secure."

District of West Vancouver Coun.Craig Cameron said it was an easy move to make.

"I'd heard about it happening before and I guess I'd always assumed the bins had been modified by the owners so this could never happen again, or that it was an isolated bin that wasn't working properly. So when I heard it had happened in West Van, I felt terrible about it," he said.

"I think we can all agree: It's a tragedy."

5 deaths in 3 years

The 34-year-old's death was the first related to a clothing bin in West Vancouver,but the fifth in B.C. since 2015.

In July 2018, a woman in her 30sdied after being stuck in a clothing bin in Vancouver's West Side. In 2016, aman was found dead after getting caught in a bin near the Guildford area of Surrey.

Anita Hauck, a 45-year-oldadvocate and frontline Salvation Army worker, died in a bin in Pitt Meadows in 2015 after she became trapped upside down in it. An online obituary said she'd been trying to reach a blanket and jacket to give to another homeless person.

Hauck's motherLoretta Sundstromsaid she broke down in tears when she read about the latest death.

"How much more do we have to take of this?" she said."I think that all [the bins] should have been closed a long time ago."

Donation bins are commonly found in parking lots and along roadsides across Metro Vancouver. Thehatches are designed to keepgoods protected inside, but a person can be constricted if they gettrapped in the mechanism.

"They are looking for clothes that they cannot afford, not even at the Salvation Army," she said.

"They are looking for a place to get into that is warm and dry, just to sleep."

'It boggles my mind'

Jeremy Hunka, spokesperson for the Union Gospel Mission, said homeless people often try to get items out of bins or use them for shelter in cold weather without realizing the safety risks.

"It's unthinkable," he said Wednesday. "[The bins]have inadvertently become death traps. It boggles my mind that they're still in operation.''

A list of alternativeoptions for donating clothingin West Vancouver can be found here.