A French teenager who had hidden inside a waste bin was crushed to death inside a rubbish collection truck in Luxembourg on Saturday, police said.

Refuse men only discovered the 17-year-old when he shouted out as they emptied the bin into the back of the lorry early on Saturday morning, but by then he was already in the grasp of the crushing mechanism.

"He cried out, but it was already too late," a spokeswoman for Luxembourg police said on Monday.

The young man, whose name was not released, died on the scene, in the city of Luxembourg.

Police have opened an investigation.