Man rescued from clothing donation bin in Venlo, police warn of life-threatening risks
A man was found sleeping inside a clothing donation container in Venlo on Friday morning, prompting a police rescue and warnings about the extreme dangers of using such bins for shelter, L1 reports.
The man was discovered by emergency responders following a call requesting assistance. Officers extracted him from the container, but it remains unclear how long he had been inside. Police could not confirm whether the man was homeless.
Local police emphasized the serious dangers of sleeping in clothing containers, despite the bins possibly appearing soft or insulated. “Sleeping in a clothing container because you have nowhere else to go: not smart and life-threatening, ” a neighborhood officer in Venlo wrote on Instagram.
Police cited several risks: limited oxygen supply inside the bins, the possibility of suffocation if new clothing is dropped on top of a person, and the threat of being injured or killed if the container is emptied. Most clothing containers in Venlo are emptied on a weekly or biweekly basis.
“This is certainly not something we encounter on a daily basis,” a police spokesperson said. “In any case, it is not a safe place.”
To prevent incidents, the municipality of Venlo had previously installed locks on several clothing containers after two earlier cases of people getting trapped while searching for clothes. Despite those security measures, the man on Friday still managed to get inside.
