Dead woman found entangled in conveyor belt at Chicago airport

CCTV footage only shows the 57-year-old walking into the baggage room and not what happens post that

Washington: Firefighters found a dead woman entangled in machinery on Thursday in a non-public baggage-processing area at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.

Larry Langford, a spokesperson for the Chicago Fire Department, said firefighters were called to the airport around 7.45 am for a report of a person pinned in machinery used to move baggage. He said they discovered the woman entangled in a conveyer belt system in a baggage room.

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Police said she was 57 years old but have not released her name. The baggage room wasn’t publicly accessible, Langford said, and it’s not clear how she found her way into it.

Scott Allen, a spokesperson for the US Department of Labor, said an official with the Occupational Health and Safety Administration visited the scene and learned the woman was not an airport employee.

The Chicago Police Department’s communications office said the woman was found unresponsive and pronounced dead on the scene. Detectives have opened an investigation, the office said.

The police communications office initially said the woman was discovered at 2.27 am, creating confusion about why firefighters and paramedics didn’t arrive for more than five hours.

After checking with the police department about the timing, Langford said he was told surveillance footage shows the woman walking in the baggage room at 2.27 am.

The communications office issued a second statement saying surveillance video shows her entering the room at 2.27 am. She was actually discovered at 7.30 am, prompting a 911 call.

The footage only shows her walking and does not show what happened to her.

Police spokesperson Nathaniel Blackman clarified that no one was watching the surveillance cameras in real time and investigators reviewed the footage after the woman’s body was discovered.