Workmates in shock over rubbish truck death

Staff of a South Auckland refuse collection firm are in shock over the death of a workmate killed on Monday by a reversing rubbish truck.

The man, who was one of a three-member household collection crew working with the truck driver, was named by police yesterday as 29-year-old Willie Noble Nicholas.

Mr Nicholas, of Otara, was one of about 50 employees of Greenmount-based Alpha Refuse Collections, which operates 10 rubbish trucks under contract to Manukau City Council.

His crew had been making kerbside collections in the Mangere suburb of Favona when its truck pulled into a driveway next to a food shop at the north end of Gadsby Rd.

The police believe at least two workers called into the shop before the truck reversed out of the driveway, knocking down Mr Nicholas, who died at the scene.

But they have yet to establish whether he was standing on the rear tray of the truck and fell off, or was walking back from the shop before being struck.

Constable Chris Peet of the Counties Manukau police serious crash unit said his team was still examining the truck to determine whether any malfunction contributed to the fatal accident.

Although Mr Nicholas is not believed to have worked for Alpha for long, a company official yesterday described its staff as a close-knit team which was devastated by his death.

The official did not want to be named and was unwilling to discuss Mr Nicholas' background, saying: "It's all too raw at the moment - we are all just horrendously upset."