The victim of the accident in the North Tower at Lincoln Square was not immediately identified by name. He lived in nearby Kirkland, Fire Department spokesman Lt. Bruce Kroon said.

Police and firefighters responded shortly after 8 p.m. to an initial report of a man trapped in an elevator. They arrived to find there had been five people in the elevator - four who climbed out safely and the man who had fallen several stories down an open elevator shaft, Kroon said.

The victim was dead at the scene.

The parking structure with the elevator is about five stories tall, and it was believed the man fell 30 to 50 feet, although that was being measured by police investigating the death, Kroon said.

Five people were on the elevator that became stuck between floors - "we don't know why exactly," Kroon said. The occupants were believed to have called for help, then pried open the elevator doors instead of waiting for help to arrive.

Four people who were in the car managed to jump down about five feet to the floor below where the elevator car stopped.

"The first four were out; the fifth individual got out of the elevator and somehow fell backward into the elevator shaft," Kroon said. "If you lose your balance there's no where to put your hand on, there's nothing back there. There's just an open shaft and it's five stories down. That's apparently what had happened."

He said the five people - three men and two women - were all young adults and apparently were together.

The elevators are new, and Kroon said he was not aware of any problems with them previously, nor any indications there was a power failure at the time of the accident.

Bellevue police were continuing their investigation late Monday night.

Lincoln Square, located downtown in this suburb east of Seattle, is a $500 million complex that includes shops, restaurants, theaters, a hotel tower and underground parking garage.