Man crushed to death by pop-up urinal outside ‘Harry Potter’ theater

A man has died after being by a pop-up urinal in London’s busy West End.

The tragedy occurred shortly after 1 p.m. local time Friday outside the Palace Theatre, currently home to the popular production of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.”

The victim was thought to be performing below-ground maintenance on the hydraulic public urinal when he was crushed.

The urinals are usually concealed below the street level during the day before they pop up from beneath the pavement for use in the evenings.

The devices “were brought into use by Westminster City Council about 20 years ago in an attempt to discourage street urination,” according to the BBC.


The victim was thought to be performing maintenance on the hydraulic public urinal below ground when he was crushed.  The urinal is pictured in the above image at left.
The victim was thought to be performing maintenance below ground on the hydraulic public urinal when he was crushed. The urinal is pictured at left in the image above.
Sky News

The hydraulic urinals are concealed below street level during the day before they pop up from beneath the pavement for use in the evenings.
The hydraulic urinals are concealed below the street level during the day before they pop up from beneath the pavement for use in the evenings.
Ray Tang/Shutterstock

The urinals "were brought into use by Westminster City Council about 20 years ago in an attempt to discourage street urination."
The urinals “were brought into use by Westminster City Council about 20 years ago in an attempt to discourage street urination.”
Ray Tang/Shutterstock

Emergency crews quickly responded to reports of injury, with an air ambulance seen dramatically landing in London’s Trafalgar Square. However, medics were unable to save the man, who died at the scene.

His name and age have not yet been released to the public.

London’s Metropolitan Police Department released a statement, saying: “His next of kin have been informed. Cordons remain in place at the location.”

Following the tragedy, the Palace Theatre put out a statement saying they would keep the public updated on a possible cancellation of Friday evening’s performance of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.” However, no cancellation was confirmed.

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