Summary Tragic incident at Chicago O'Hare Airport as woman's body becomes trapped in baggage conveyor belt. Woman was not an airport employee, entered non-public area, and was found unresponsive in Terminal 5. Chicago Police investigating the death of Virginia Christine Vinton of North Carolina.
Airport not high-security. A 57-year-old woman was killed at Chicago O'Hare International Airport on Thursday, August 8, following her body becoming entangled in the conveyor belt at one of the country's busiest airports. The incident happened in one of the airport's non-public baggage rooms.
The US Department of Labor confirmed to local media that the individual was not an employee at the airport. CCTV footage has identified that the woman was seen entering the non-public baggage processing area at 02:27 local time. Responding to the distress call at 07:30 local time, the Chicago Fire Department was alerted to an 'unresponsive female,' who had become pinned to the machinery that is used to move baggage, and the woman was found in the baggage area of Terminal 5, which is the predominant terminal used at the airport for international flights.
Airport officials noted that the area was not classed as high-security, and her entering the area would not have been deemed a security breach. The Chicago Police Department is conducting an investigation, pending a post-mortem of the woman's body. When medics arrived, the woman was already unresponsive and then pronounced dead on the scene.
The a.