Officials investigate man’s escalator strangling in Seattle

SEATTLE – Washington state officials are investigating the death of a 42-year-old man who was strangled when he fell on an escalator in downtown Seattle and his clothing got caught in the mechanism.

The Seattle Times reports Maurecio Bell was found unconscious and unresponsive early Sunday at the bottom of an escalator at the Benaroya Hall Metro Station.

The King County medical examiner’s office says Bell choked to death.

Seattle Fire Department spokesman Kyle Moore says the Washington Department of Labor and Industries is investigating how Bell’s clothes got caught in the escalator.

Bell’s death came a day before the labour agency announced it had completed an investigation of a Bellevue Square escalator, where seven people were injured Dec. 6.

State officials found 32 code violations at that escalator.

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