Cal State Long Beach worker killed climbing from stuck elevator

A Cal State Long Beach employee was killed Wednesday when the elevator she was riding malfunctioned and she became trapped after trying to climb out, officials said.

University police and Long Beach Fire Department personnel were called to the campus around 9 a.m. after receiving a report of woman trapped on the third floor of the Foundation building.

But the woman, whose name was not yet released, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Details were still being pieced together but based on preliminary information, it appears the incident took place after an elevator malfunctioned, said university spokeswoman Tone Beron.

"When she arrived on the third floor, there was some sort of malfunction of the elevator and she was not able to get out," Beron said. "She decided to get out on her own, and there was someone there who she asked to assist her in climbing out."

As she was trying to climb out, the elevator moved, Beron said, and she was caught between the floor of the elevator and the shaft.

Beron said university officials and law enforcement authorities are investigating the circumstances.

"We have to find out what happened and why it happened," Beron said.

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Photo: Scene of elevator death at Cal State Long Beach. Credit: KTLA-TV