Police: Man strangled by shirt caught in subway escalator

The New York Police Department says a man was likely choked to death when he fell on a subway escalator and his shirt got caught in the moving staircase.

The NYPD says 48-year-old Carlos Alvarez fell at the Intervale subway station in the Longwood section of the Bronx about 3:45 a.m. Sunday, where he was found unconscious and unresponsive. He was cut out of the shirt and rushed to Lincoln Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The No. 2 and 5 lines serve the station. Authorities say Alvarez had been drinking before his fatal fall. The medical examiner's officer will work to determine the exact cause of death. The MTA called it a "tragic and unusual incident" and said it remained under investigation.

Fox 5 News has documented problems with escalators in the subway system for years but this is the first death attributed to an escalator in recent memory.

WATCH: Riders have no patience for broken escalators

A comptroller's report found that of the elevators and escalators it checked on, 80 percent did not have the required maintenance performed on them.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.