CHICAGO, IL – A 57-year-old woman was discovered dead after becoming entrapped in luggage carousel machinery at the Chicago O’Hare Airport. Around 7:45 am on Thursday, emergency services were summoned to the airport following a report of an individual trapped in machinery.
Responding to the call, firefighters found the woman caught up in the conveyor belt system of Terminal 5. She was tragically pronounced dead at the scene.
The woman was not an employee at the airport, according to a representative from the Department of Labor. Nonetheless, video surveillance from Chicago police showed her entering a restricted area designated for employees approximately at 2:30 am.
Despite her entering the area so early, her body was not discovered for nearly five hours. The area, typically restricted to airport workers, was declared a crime scene and handed over to the Chicago Police Department for further probing. This specific portion of the international terminal consists of conveyor belts transporting baggage to and from aircraft, with baggage also undergoing customs checks.
As of now, police have not released further information regarding the woman’s activities after she entered the restricted sector. The identity of the woman remains concealed, and her reasons for being at the airport are still undetermined. In the wake of this tragic event, investigators, as well as the airport community, are working relentlessly to understand the circumstances surrounding this death.