Hose falls off monorail, hits 10-year-old boy

A 10-year-old Maple Valley boy was struck by a rubber hose that fell from the Seattle Center Monorail on Saturday morning, but he wasn't seriously hurt and was able to run the Seattle Children's Kids Marathon a short time later.

Seattle Fire Department medics, called to Fifth Avenue and Broad Street at 9:48 a.m., examined the boy and released him after the hose fell about 25 feet from the monorail, said Thomas Ditty, general manager of Seattle Monorail Services.

The hose, used to fill the blue train's 64 air-filled tires, was accidentally left attached to the tire. Similar to hoses used to fill car tires, it was 6 feet long and about as wide as a person's index finger, Ditty said.

It was used with a portable compressor instead of the usual compressor, which was disabled by cold weather, Ditty said.

Monorail Services is reviewing its maintenance procedures and, following standard procedures for accidents, is testing a worker for drugs or alcohol, although there was no indication the worker was impaired, Ditty said.

"We take it very, very seriously. This is very unusual for us and certainly something that we are going to pay attention to."