(CNN) A homeless man is in a serious condition in a Dublin hospital after the tent he was sleeping in was picked up by an industrial litter-clearing vehicle.

The unnamed man was injured when workers from Waterways Ireland, the body responsible for maintaining Ireland's rivers and canals, cleared a walkway along a canal in the Irish capital.

"A man (age unknown) was sleeping in his tent when it was being removed in an attempt to tidy the canal walk way," local police said in a statement. "The man received injuries during this incident and was removed to St. Vincent's Hospital where he remains in serious condition but stable."

According to Dublin City Council, the incident happened on Tuesday afternoon, when workers "were removing tents that were placed in a precarious and dangerous location."

Local media reports suggest the vehicle had a mechanical arm that removed the assembled tents by lifting them up and placing them in a truck for disposal.

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