Man killed by tenpin bowling machine

A worker was crushed to death by a 10-pin bowling machine he was trying to clean, an inquest has heard.

Ferdinand Dela Cruz was cleaning the mechanism when he became trapped and suffocated. The jury was told he was a very competent technician, who had been promoted recently at Hollywood Bowl in Barking.

Mr Dela Cruz, a 34-year-old Filipino who lived in East Ham, suffered fractured ribs and a collapsed lung, Walthamstow Coroner's Court heard yesterday.

Inquiries found that the machine Mr Dela Cruz was cleaning was still plugged in. Initially police had treated the death as suspicious, and a hunt was launched for five teenagers but it was found they were not involved.

Today Mr Dela Cruz's wife Maria, 42, said: "They do not know how long he was trapped. I fear he suffered and could not cry out. That is the hardest thing to take."