Firefighters discovered a dead woman entangled in machinery on Thursday morning in a restricted baggage-processing area at O’Hare International Airport. The Chicago Fire Department spokesperson, Larry Langford, stated that firefighters were called to the airport around 7:45 a.m. following a report of a person pinned in machinery used for moving baggage. Upon arrival, they found the woman caught in a conveyor belt system in the baggage room.
The police have identified the deceased woman as 57 years old but have not released her name. Langford mentioned that the baggage room is not accessible to the public, raising questions about how the woman gained entry. Scott Allen, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Labor, reported that an official from the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) visited the scene and confirmed that the woman was not an airport employee.
Firefighters handed over the scene to police investigators. Langford did not provide additional details. The Chicago Police Department’s communications office later issued a statement to The Associated Press, indicating that the woman was found unresponsive and pronounced dead at the scene. Detectives have since opened an investigation.
Initially, the police communications office reported that the woman was discovered at 2:27 a.m., creating confusion as to why emergency responders did not arrive for more than five hours. Upon further investigation, it was clarified that surveillance footage showed the woman walking into the baggage room at 2:27 a.m. but she was actually discovered by airport personnel at 7:30 a.m., prompting a 911 call.
The surveillance footage, reviewed after the woman’s body was found, shows her walking into the area but does not capture the incident leading to her entanglement in the machinery.
Police spokesperson Nathaniel Blackman clarified during a phone interview with The Associated Press that no one was monitoring the surveillance cameras in real-time, and the footage was reviewed post-incident to piece together the timeline of events.
