Man strangled by downtown Seattle escalator

[+OverSword]

From the article:

A man was strangled in an accident last weekend on a downtown Seattle escalator with several safety-code violations, and the state Department of Labor & Industries is investigating.

Maurecio Bell, 42, of Renton, was found unconscious and unresponsive about 5:30 a.m. Sunday at the bottom of a King County Metro escalator at University Street Station near Third Avenue and University Street, according to the Seattle Police Department.

The King County Medical Examiner’s Office said that after Bell apparently fell down on the moving escalator, his clothing became entangled in the escalator’s mechanism, choking him to death.

Video of the incident confirms that’s what happened, according to police. They say the King County Metro footage shows Bell, who was later found with an opened bottle of brandy in his back pocket, staggering and then leaning against the escalator wall at 5:19 a.m.

When he was about three-quarters of the way down the escalator, according to the police report, he lost his balance and fell onto his back. During and after the fall, he did not attempt to get back up by reaching for a railing. When he reached the base of the escalator, the back of his shirt was pulled into it.

He then attempted to sit up but was pulled onto his back, the report says.

The first person to see Bell pressed the escalator’s manual stop button, called 911 and performed CPR on him until the Seattle Fire Department arrived, according to police. Medics were unable to revive him, said Seattle Fire Department spokesman Kyle Moore.

“It’s an unfortunate and tragic accident, and we’ve never seen anything like it before,” said King County Metro spokesman Jeff Switzer.

What a way to go.

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2013/04/man-strangled-by-downtown-seattle-escalator/?prmid=obinsource

[Ashotep]

Already had several safety code violations and nothing was fixed. He may of been drunk but I still feel sorry for the man.

[Star of the Sea]

Oh poor man I hate escalators. I watched a programme recently were an escalator somewhere in the US ( I forget where but it was at a sport stadium) malfunctioned and started going too fast and everyone was thrown in a heap at the bottom on top of each other. One poor girl got trapped and her leg was severed

[Space Commander Travis]

It's rather like Isadora Duncan.

[xYlvax]

Horrible way to die.

I hate stepping on those things.. I was at a shopping mall in Giessen, DE one time, about 4 floors up, and some of the escalators descended roughly 40 ft. down in midair!

My mother made jokes about me because I took the elevator, but I had also fallen down steps before! I wasn't going on that death-trap.

[wolfknight]

I rally hate them also . I feel sorry for the man and his family.

[Clarakore]

http://newmediarockstars.com/2013/04/teen-breaks-mall-elevator-trying-viral-helicoptering-meme-videos/

[Keel M.]

I hate elevators more than escalators. I've been stranded in elevators twice. There should be some kind of stopping mechanism added so if there's a fall being detected, the stairs would automatically stop moving.

[K_Bonita]

Sad way to go. My biggest fear when I was a child was dying at the escalators,my hair being pulled in and never being able to stop it. I had really long hair so I cut it off because I thought I would die like that

[Moon Gazer]

Oooh that is awful! Poor guy I hate them too, I'm always wary stepping on and off them, especially when I have the kids with me.