Man Found Alive Under Rubbish After Falling Asleep in Kwekwe Skip Bin

By Southerton Business Times Reporter KWEKWE — August 20, 2026

A man believed to be in his early 30s was found alive beneath a heap of rubbish at the Kwekwe City Council dump site after scavengers mistook his legs, protruding from the waste, for those of a dead person. The man, who is reportedly battling drug addiction, allegedly climbed into a council skip bin at the Kwekwe long-distance bus terminus on Tuesday night and fell asleep while heavily intoxicated.

Council workers were unaware that he was inside the container when they arrived the following morning to collect refuse. A council employee, who requested anonymity, said the man entered the skip bin at about 9 pm.

“At around 6.30 AM, a Kwekwe City Council refuse truck arrived for its routine collection. The driver lifted the bin and drove to the city’s dump site on the outskirts of Kwekwe to offload,” the employee said.

The waste was subsequently emptied at the dump site, where scavengers began searching through discarded material for recyclable items. It was during the search that they spotted what appeared to be human legs sticking out from the rubbish. Kwekwe mayor Councillor Albert Zinhanga confirmed the unusual incident, saying the scavengers initially believed they had discovered a corpse.

“The man was found buried in a heap of rubbish at the dump site. The people who collect discarded objects such as wood and scrap metal saw human legs protruding from the dump and assumed it was a corpse,” Zinhanga said.

One of the scavengers alerted council officials, who contacted the police.

“When the police came, they realised the person was breathing and ferried him to Kwekwe District Hospital for medical care,” the mayor said.

The man was later transferred to Amaveni Rehabilitation Centre for assessment.

Tariro Moyo, 46, a recyclable-material collector, said the discovery initially caused panic among scavengers at the dump.

“I make a living from collecting recyclables at the dump site. We were looking for plastic and metal when I saw legs sticking out from under a sack,” Moyo said.

“The trousers were dirty, and his feet were not moving. We all thought it was a dead person killed for ritual purposes and dumped, and we fled from the scene.”

A police officer who attended the scene said determining whether the man was alive was initially difficult because he was deeply buried beneath the refuse. The officer said police heard a faint snore after pulling back some of the rubbish.

The man had reportedly been buried beneath plastic, cardboard and food waste. Although he was breathing, he was described as weak and disoriented after spending the night inside the skip bin and subsequently being transported to the dump. He also sustained cuts and bruises to his arms. The incident highlights the potentially dangerous consequences of people entering refuse containers, particularly where waste collection crews cannot know whether anyone is inside before mechanical lifting and emptying takes place.

For authorities, the incident also raises concerns about drug addiction, substance abuse and vulnerable people seeking shelter in refuse containers, although the circumstances surrounding the man's decision to enter the skip bin remain unclear.

Kwekwe dump site man found alive