Homeless woman in Pittsburgh scooped up by heavy equipment machine during clean-up

PITTSBURGH — A homeless person in Pittsburgh living in a tent was inadvertently scooped up by a heavy equipment machine that was cleaning the area.

>> Read more trending news

According to WPXI-TV, work crews were helping people to move from the encampment on the city’s North Side last week. However, workers did not realize that the woman was still in a tent when they began their clean-up detail.

Several sources told the television station that a front loader operator began scooping up tents they believed were uninhabited. The operator was preparing to toss the tents into nearby dump trucks to haul them from the area. City officials had also fenced off the area that was to be cleaned out, WPXI reported.

According to the television station, the woman began screaming as she poked her head out of the tent. She then tumbled to the ground, although it was unclear how far she fell.

The woman declined medical assistance and walked away, according to WPXI.

A spokesperson for Mayor Ed Gainey’s administration said all of the tents were checked before the clean-up began.

“County and city employees who were working to clean the encampment on Stockton Ave(nue) did a thorough review of all of the tents prior to the decommissioning of the camp,” Maria Montano, the mayor’s press secretary, said in a statement. “We are currently reviewing what happened in regard to an individual being inside of a tent at the time of the incident. The individual walked away from the scene after turning down assistance and we have had no contact with them at this time.”

A spokesperson for Allegheny County told WPXI that county workers were not involved in “clearing” the homeless camp. They were present to provide assistance and resources to people who were being displaced, the spokesperson said.

©2022 Cox Media Group