A 36-year-old Indian man from Kerala, who was working at the Chicago O'Hare International Airport, died after being crushed by airplane equipment. Jijo George died of multiple injuries after being crushed by an aircraft drivable pushback apparatus at a hangar at the airport, according to autopsy results released on Monday by the Cook County medical examiner's office.
Jijo is survived by his wife, who is eight months pregnant, a young child and his parents. An online fundraiser has been organised for Jijo’s family. He had moved to Chicago from Pathanapuram, in Pathanamthitta, Kerala. Media reports said that his father Kunjumon and mother Mony were also staying with him in Chicago.
Jijo was a maintenance mechanic for Envoy Air and died while working at a building near the airport. Chicago police said that they were called at about 2 pm to the airport and were told about a man who was unresponsive under the vehicle. Jijo was taken to AMITA Health Resurrection Medical Center, where he died at 3:50 pm, authorities said. The autopsy ruled his death an accident, a report in the Chicago Sun Times said.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the death, and has up to six months to issue workplace safety citations.
Many Indians working in the Gulf, the US and other countries have also succumbed to COVID-19 since the onset of the disease earlier this year. By the last week of June, 299 non-resident Malayalis had died of COVID-19, all of whom were cremated abroad, at the place of their death, and were not flown back to India. NORKA Roots – the Department of Non-Resident Keralites Affairs – reported that the highest number of NRI Malayalis' deaths due to COVID-19 was recorded in Gulf countries, especially the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
(With PTI input)