Elderly woman strangled by clothes caught in escalator

(AP/CBS) LINDENHURST, N.Y. - A preliminary investigation into the death of a woman who fell on an escalator at a Long Island Rail Road station reveals that she died after her clothes got entangled in the escalator's treads and she was asphyxiated.

The LIRR released a statement Wednesday saying the escalator, which remains out of service, was last inspected in February. LIRR says the escalator is inspected monthly and is maintained in good operating condition.

The woman, 88-year-old Irene Bernatzky, of Lindenhurst, died on Tuesday after falling on the escalator at the rail station in Lindenhurst.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police is conducting the investigation.

Flowers and burning candles now mark the blocked escalator entrance at the station where Bernatzky, was killed

[JavMD]

i got into a habit of carrying a knife because i work i need it all the time to open boxes, etc. And now most of the time i just keep it on me.

Shame SOMEONE didn't have a knife to cut the clothes trapped.

AND i can't believe how many people are scared of escalators... not like everyday, you laydown and try and feed your scarf into the bottom tread.

DATA... how many people at the ATlanta Airport in a day, taking the escaltors up and down... hundreds of thousands...

I would guess you have more chance dying in a car accident or of cancer or heart disease than dying on an escalator.

Wake up America... go back to high school, no forget that, community college and take some statistics courses.

Our local ohio lottery.. 1 chance in 12 million of hitting... but we keep playing ! lol human brain at work

[KnowerseekerReturns]

Escalators are dangerous by default. There is a reason that responsible parents don't allow or force their small children to ride escalators, and old folks have about the situational awareness and physical balance of a small child.

[OrangeCountyAndrew]

New Yorkers are just like the way they were with Kitty Genovese. They mind their own business, they don't do the right and moral thing. They just walk past a dying person on the sidewalk because nobody wants to get involved. It's all about "me me me me" and if someone else dies, too bad, it ain't my problem.

[Farver4girls]

Poor lady! Escalators scare the h... out of me.

[barbaram99]

I won't get on them moving steps..They scare me and I can't see them so I won't use them..I been scared of them since age 10. I am 57.

[roughman998]

...And, nobody had a knife?

Oh. Right. It was New York...

[wernwrfjcfk]

OH, The Humanity.........

[Chrissakes100]

Darwin nods his head knowingly.

[KnowerseekerReturns]

I'll keep that in mind when your old mother dies from being clumsy from old age. It was "natural selection".

[seeker25801]

Leroy Gibbs: Rule #1: ALWAYS carry a knife.

[dgammons]

I could understand if cause of death was a broken neck, but I agree with 'mieanyody'...no one was within close enough proximity to this woman to cut her loose within the time it took for her to asphyxiate?

[aChangeOfIdeas]

because everyone carries a knife on the train. It only takes a couple minutes to suffocate.

[mieanyody]

Was there no one else around to assist this poor woman or did others just stand there and watch while she died?