A two-year-old boy was rescued last week after being swept away by a conveyor belt in the luggage screening area at Newark Liberty International Airport, officials said.
The incident occurred around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the JetBlue ticketing counter in Terminal A, when the child became caught on a baggage conveyor system and was carried down a chute to the lower-level checked baggage room.
According to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Port Authority Police Department (PAPD) officers quickly responded and entered the conveyor system to locate the toddler. “The cops, realizing the danger the child was in, without hesitation, entered the conveyor system and, after about four minutes, located the child who was headed for an x-ray machine,” the Port Authority Police Benevolent Association Inc. said in a social media post.
The boy’s grandfather expressed deep gratitude to the officers who rescued the child, telling PIX 11 News that both the toddler and his mother are safe and doing well.