Police in Canada have said a man whose body was found inside a wall in a women’s washroom died accidentally, after he crawled into a vent opening for unknown reasons and became stuck.

The grisly discovery was made earlier this week after a worker at the Core Shopping Centre in Calgary was called in to fix a toilet that wouldn’t flush. After removing the wall panel behind the toilet, he found a body belonging to an adult male.

On Wednesday Calgary police did not name the victim, identifying him only as a male in his 20s. He had entered the women’s washroom on Friday evening – some three days before his body was found – and was believed to have been alone at the time, police said.

They said the man likely climbed on top of a pony wall – a short two-metre wall used to hide utilities – which sat directly behind the toilets.

The man then removed a vent cover on top of the pony wall, police believe. “Based on evidence at the scene, officers believe the victim then climbed inside the pony wall through the vent opening where he became stuck and later died,” police said in a statement. “The victim’s motivation for crawling inside the wall is unknown at this time.”

Police said they had ruled out the possibility of foul play. As the victim’s death is considered accidental, they added that they would not be releasing any further details regarding the incident.

After the body was discovered earlier this week, fire crews and police arrived at the shopping centre to investigate, taping off sections of the food court as mall-goers dined metres away.

Provincial medical examiners removed the body from the scene hours later and an autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday. Speaking to the Calgary Herald, the shopping centre said the employee who found the body had been offered counselling services and time off in order “to deal with whatever he may be going through”.