A 5-month-old baby has died after being placed on a baggage carousel at an airport in Alicante, Spain, CNN reports.
Investigators say it is not yet clear how the baby ended up on the conveyor belt, which is activated only when oversized bags are sent out for passengers to pick up. “The baby was on the baggage carousel, but could not have gotten there alone. Someone had to put the baby there. I don’t know how the baby got there,” an airport spokesperson told CNN. The baby’s American mother had reportedly arrived at the airport late Wednesday on a flight from London with the baby and another young child, while the father was at the airport awaiting them.
An unidentified security officer who did not see the incident reportedly told a CNN affiliate that she was told “the mother apparently put [the baby] down on the conveyer belt when she went to reach for something. He was crushed by the conveyer belt and it killed him.
The Spanish Civil Guard says the baby’s death appears to have been an accident.