A homeless man from Poland, who had been sleeping rough in an industrial-sized bin in the city, is believed to have suffocated and been crushed to death in a commercial waste pick-up truck.

Henryk Piotrowski was identified from documentation on his clothing and Gardai are now trying to contact his family in Poland.

A post-mortem examination by the Deputy State Pathologist confirmed the 43-year-old was still alive when the bin was emptied into the truck yesterday morning.

Inquiries were underway last night to establish where exactly the tragedy occurred.