A man died after a urinal crushed him in Central London on Friday, January 27.
The urinals are designed to drop into the ground during the day. They look like maintenance hole covers during the day, but they rise from the ground at night and provide a place to relieve oneself as London’s nightlife takes effect.
Emergency services were called to the Charing Cross Road at around 1 pm on Friday, where a worker was seriously injured after getting trapped underground.
A spokesperson for the London Fire Brigade said that the man was finally freed about two and a half hours later when firefighters opened the urinal.
The Metropolitan Police Service released a statement about an hour later announcing the death of the unidentified man. They said that despite emergency services personnel’s best efforts, the man was trapped under the urinal and critically injured due to the accident. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Scotland Yard said they had notified his family of the tragedy and that cordons would remain in place at the scene. Police also asked members of the public to avoid the area.
The government introduced telescopic urinals in Central London over a decade ago as a creative way to provide places to urinate to late-night revelers.
Most are built throughout the city’s entertainment districts.
