This is why your mother warned you about the dangers of escalators!

The Seattle Times: Man strangled by downtown Seattle escalator

April 11, 2013 at 4:15 PM

Man strangled by downtown Seattle escalator
Posted by Alexa Vaughn

The state Department of Labor & Industries has launched an investigation into the death of a 42-year-old man who was strangled in a downtown Seattle escalator last weekend.

Maurecio Bell, 42, was found unconscious and unresponsive at the bottom of an escalator at the Benaroya Hall Metro Station at Third Avenue and Seneca Street at 5:36 a.m. Sunday, according to Seattle Fire Department spokesman Kyle Moore.

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

Medics performed CPR on Bell, but were unable to revive him, Moore said.

Moore said Labor & Industries is investigating how Bell's clothes got caught in the escalator.

. . ."

She never warned me about this one.

I was on an escalator coming out of the subway once when some bastard near the top, grabbed both the moving handrails and jerked back on them. The damn thing came to a stop and knocked everybody down. Real funny. Those stairs are sharp.

Imagine being on this escalator when it failed:

komonews.com: Inspectors find dozens of code violations on escalator that injured 7

The Seattle P-I: 4 hurt in escalator mishap in Bellevue Macy's

The updated story about the guy who died on Sunday indicates he was probably pretty drunk when it happened:

". . .

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 a 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.

. . ."

[b]The Seattle Times: Operator of escalator where man died had safety violations, says L&I[/i]

I had an incident about a year ago where I started up the escalator to the Metro at Reagan Airport in DC. I have one of those suitcases with the 360 wheels and didn't notice one of the wheels was on a different step than the rest. I tried to pull it off as I backed down but lost my balance and the suitcase fell on top of me. It's not easy trying to get back on your feet with an escalator going up and a suitcase on top of you and your feet are higher than your head. I couldn't reach the hand rails. Fortunately somebody saw me and came over to help. The teeth on the stairs are sharp as reflected by my scars. They are definitely not toys to play with.

I hear you, Barb. Several years ago we were dropping off my mom and sister at Sea-Tac Airport. My then ~6-year-old son was pulling his Grandma's wheeled suitcase. We came to a single-file escalator. My son went first pulling the suitcase behind him. My sister next, my mom, and then me with my daughter on my shoulders.

As we were headed up the escalator the lady behind me pushed her way past me and barged up the stairs.

I thought, "How rude! She must be in a terrible hurry to catch her flight."

Turns out my son had done a flip and fallen down on top of the suitcase. He was riding the suitcase up the escalator. She had seen it happen and barged up to rescue him. He came out of that with some serious black and blue marks on his legs and arms. I didn't see it happen because I was focused on my mom who was the most likely of all of us to fall on the escalator.

There have been some terrible accidents that involve small kids fingers and escalators and moving sidewalks. I keep a sharp eye on my kids and coach them each time we use one.

[This message has been edited by ungyded (4/12/2013)]

I used to warn Gunnar about the dangers of escalators all the time. Especially about keeping his shoes tied.

Too bad those warnings didn't work. Look how I turned out.

I responded to a call at Dallas Love Field, a three year old girl was strangled by her long scarf, which got caught at one end of a moving sidewalk. I worked in the elevator industry for Otis elevator co. for 40 years and have seen a lot of accident involving escalators and moving sidewalks. Nothing makes you respond faster than a call with a child's foot caught in an escalator.

Escalators are probably the worse form of public transportation, watch your children and do not let them play on moving machinery.