A woman has tragically died after getting caught in an airport baggage carousel. Her body was found entangled in machinery a baggage-processing area at O'Hare international airport in Chicago on Thursday. Police said she was 57 but have not released her name. According to a spokesperson from the Department of Labor, the woman was not an airport employee.
Larry Langford, a spokesperson for the Chicago Fire Department, said that firefighters were dispatched to the airport around 7:45 a.m. after receiving a report of someone getting trapped in the machinery used for moving baggage. Upon arrival, the firefighters found the woman caught in a conveyor belt system within a baggage room.
Horrific Accident
Chicago police said that surveillance footage showed her entering the employees-only area just before 2:30 a.m., meaning her body was not found for another five hours. The area has now been designated a crime scene and turned over to investigators with the Chicago Police Department, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Langford said that the baggage room was not accessible to the public, and it remains unclear how she ended up there.
Scott Allen, a spokesperson for the US Department of Labor, said that an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) official visited the scene and confirmed that the woman was not an airport employee.
Firefighters handed over the scene to police investigators, and Langford had no additional information.
The Chicago Police Department's communications office told the Associated Press that the woman was found unresponsive and pronounced dead at the scene.
Mystery Behind Death
Detectives have launched an investigation. Initially, the police communications office reported that the woman was found at 2:27 a.m., which caused confusion about why it took over five hours for firefighters and paramedics to arrive.
After checking with the police department, Langford clarified that surveillance footage showed the woman entering the baggage room at 2:27 a.m., and she was actually found at 7:30 a.m., which led to the 911 call.
The footage only captures her walking in the room and does not reveal what happened to her.
Nathaniel Blackman, a police spokesperson, explained in a phone interview with the Associated Press that no one was monitoring the surveillance cameras in real time; investigators reviewed the footage only after the woman's body was found.
