The LIRR escalator where an elderly Long Island woman died after falling had a broken hand grasp that made it difficult to balance, commuters at Lindenhurst Station said yesterday.

An elderly man fell just 20 minutes before Irene Bernatzky, 88, took her fatal tumble Tuesday, according to a witness, Glenn Heimink.

A preliminary probe found that when Bernatzky fell, her clothes became entangled and she was asphyxiated, LIRR officials said.