A maintenance worker was crushed to death by an elevator Wednesday at UAMS Medical Center in Little Rock, hospital officials said.
Brent Hutchins, 32, was in the Central Building performing routine maintenance under an elevator when it "came down in the normal cycle and struck him" about 10:30 a.m., UAMS Chancellor Dan Rahn said in a statement.
Hutchins worked for Schindler Elevators & Escalators in Little Rock. The company is under contract with UAMS to perform daily maintenance at the medical center.
Leslie Taylor, UAMS vice chancellor of communications and marketing, said all elevators in the Central Building were shut down "for quite a while" after Hutchins' death, but had resumed operation early Wednesday afternoon.
"It wasn't a free fall. It appears to us the elevator just came down like it normally would and he was killed," she said.
The U.S. Department of Labor and Schindler Elevators & Escalators are both investigating the death, according to UAMS.
"I want to assure you that all of our elevators are safe, licensed and routinely inspected," Rahn said in the statement. "This is a tragedy and I ask that you please keep Brent's family and his co-workers in your thoughts and prayers."
Metro on 02/25/2016