Seattle escalator strangling death investigated

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.

CBS affiliate KIRO-TV reports reports Maurecio Bell was found unconscious and unresponsive early Sunday at the bottom of an escalator at University Station on Third Avenue and Seneca Street.

Medics performed CPR on the man, but he could not be revived, KIRO reports. According to police, they found alcohol in the man's back pocket.

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

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

KIRO reports that records show that after Labor & Industries inspected the escalator in December, Metro was warned to make repairs by the end of March. The department said the repairs weren't made. Metro claims repairs were in progress.

Bell's death came a day before the labor 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.