A customer died in a tragic accident at a McDonald's drive-thru whilst trying to pay for his meal.

Michael Dickinsin, 69, was fatally crushed on Tuesday after becoming wedged between his car and the restaurant's exterior wall in Grand Island, Nebraska. He was transported to a nearby hospital but tragically succumbed to his injuries, The Mirror reports.

Grand Island Police Division Chief Dean Elliott characterised Dickinson's death as a freak accident. "It appears the deceased opened the door to further reach out the window for payment purposes," he told KSNB.

"We're not sure if the vehicle lurched forward or what happened, but he got pinched between the door frame and the drive-through window counter."

The incident follows another tragedy in which a Texas doctor was decapitated when lift doors shut around his neck, leaving his head caught outside.

Preliminary investigations showed that Dickinson was the only occupant in the car and was the sole individual who "sustained fatal injuries," police confirmed.

Elliott told the outlet that a McDonald's employee was also hurt during the incident whilst trying to help Dickinson by climbing in through the passenger side of the vehicle. The department's Accident Reconstruction Team is supporting the investigation, the outlet reported.

A similar tragedy unfolded at a McDonald's in Vancouver in 2021 when Tony Eyles, 42, lost his life to his own vehicle at the drive-through. Police reported that CCTV footage captured the moment when the man was paying his bill and accidentally dropped his bank card on the ground.

As Eyles bent down to pick up the card, his car rolled forwards, pinning him between the door and the building. Trapped and unable to escape, Eyles was fatally crushed.

"This is an absolutely heartbreaking scenario," said Vancouver Police Constable Tania Visintin regarding the separate incident, according to a press release. "Our deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of this man."

Visintin told the Edmonton City News that the incident proved traumatic for the McDonald's staff who witnessed it. "People aren't used to seeing this type of incident happen, especially at your workplace."

She added that victim services were made available to the employees. "I would assume everyone is shaken up."

What renders these incidents particularly uncommon is that fatal car accidents usually involve multiple vehicles. Yet in these cases, only the victims' own cars were involved.

"The fact that no other vehicle was involved... this seems like a freak accident," Visintin remarked.

This comes after a horrifying incident where a group of children, including his own, watched Santa Claus fall to his death.