Man is strangled by MBTA escalator

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BOSTON, March 2 (UPI) -- A 34-year-old man was strangled by a Boston transit authority escalator after his sweatshirt became entangled in the mechanism, news reports said.

Francisco Portillo, a prep cook who arrived in Boston from El Salvador four years ago, died last week, but the incident was only made public Tuesday by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the report said.

The state public safety department ruled the death an accident and investigators said they suspect alcohol may have been involved in the incident.

Investigators believe Portillo was either sitting or lying on the 143-foot-long escalator when his hood became snagged in the escalator's comb plate, dragging him to the floor and strangling him.