A woman was killed Thursday morning after she entered a restricted area at O’Hare International Airport and somehow became entangled in a baggage conveyor belt, authorities said.
The Chicago Fire Department was called to Terminal 5 at O’Hare for a report of a woman pinned in machinery about 7:45 a.m., according to department spokesman Larry Langford.
When firefighters arrived, they found the woman entangled in the conveyor belt system used to move baggage. Paramedics confirmed the woman was dead at the scene, Langford said.
Chicago police identified her as a 57-year-old, though her identity had not been released. Surveillance video showed the woman entering an unoccupied restricted area just before 2:30 a.m., a police spokesperson said. The woman’s body was not discovered for five hours.
The woman was not an airport worker, according to Scott Allen, a spokesperson with the U.S. Department of Labor, who added that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration doesn’t have jurisdiction in the investigation.
The area was declared a crime scene and the investigation was handed over to Chicago police, Langford said.
Detectives were conducting a death investigation pending autopsy results.
