A man died through a telescopic urinal in the heart of London on Friday January 27th. As the technician in charge of working on these devices, he could not be resuscitated by the emergency services, who took nearly three hours to extricate him from the hydraulic system.
A tragic and unexpected accident. one maintenance technician died in London on Friday January 27 after being crushed by a telescopic public urinal in the center of the English capital.
maintenance accident
At the intersection of Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road, this man had to intervene on the public urinal’s hydraulic system. The latter would have caught his eye when he activated “night mode” to carry out these repairs, reports the BBC.
Massive emergency response to Cambridge Circus in London’s West End – a man believed to have been crushed while working on an underground toilet. Firefighters work to free him. @LBC @LBCNews pic.twitter.com/nsRnReF3jA
— Charlotte Lynch (@charlotterlynch) January 27, 2023
These so-called “telescope” systems are made possible by the municipality to bury these urinals to keep the sidewalk flat for users to walk on during the day. At nightfall they are “telescoped” from the soil and appear. These devices allow people who feel the need to urinate at times when most surrounding businesses and their restrooms are closed.
Australia’s first hydraulic pop up urinal has arrived to everyone’s relief https://t.co/SDAbqVixr6 pic.twitter.com/jwt5kezWf6
—Mashable (@mashable) February 17, 2016
More than three hours of intervention
When rescuers were dispatched to the scene around 1pm, it took more than three hours to extricate the man from the system he was stuck under, the BBC says. A delay that has made unable to revive A posteriori.