One person has been pronounced dead after being struck by a garbage truck in a laneway in the area of Adelaide and York streets early Tuesday morning.

Emergency crews were called to the area shortly before 6 a.m. for reports that someone had been struck, paramedics told CBC Toronto.

The victim was found without vital signs, and pronounced dead at the scene, Toronto police Const. David Hopkinson told CBC.

Neither police nor paramedics could confirm the victim's gender.

The victim may have been sleeping in the laneway at the time, Hopkinson said. At the scene, Insp. Jim Gotell said preliminary information suggests the truck was backing into the alleyway when it struck the victim.

The driver remained at the scene, he said.

"Obviously he's very traumatized by what has occurred," Gotell told reporters. "He's in shock right now so we're making sure he's being taken care of."

The Toronto police traffic services division has deployed accident reconstruction officers to investigate. Investigators will look for surveillance video from nearby businesses and seek statements from other witnesses, Sgt. Brett Moore told CBC.

Two right northbound lanes of University Avenue at Adelaide Street are blocked for the investigation.