61-year-old man in critical condition after being pulled into MRI machine while wearing metal chain

WESTBURY, New York -- A man was magnetically pulled into an MRI machine while wearing a metal chain in Nassau County, New York on Wednesday.

It happened at Nassau Open MRI when detectives say the 61-year-old man walked into an MRI room while a scan was in progress and was drawn into the machine.

Officials say the incident caused a medical episode and the man was rushed to a local hospital in critical condition.

Nassau County Police say that the victim was not a patient and was there with someone else.

The investigation is ongoing, but police say there is no criminality involved and it appears to be an accident.

Nassau Open MRI, which has several other locations, offers both open and closed scans.

At nearby North Shore University Hospital, medical professionals said they were shocked, and that rigorous safety protocols should be in place to avoid attracting metal objects.

"If this was a chain that was wrapped around the neck, I could imagine any kind of strangulation injuries that could happen, asphyxiation, cervical spine injuries if the patient was slammed against the MRI, you know, any kind of blunt force trauma that we can think about could happen," said emergency medicine Dr. Payal Sud.