Officials identify woman killed in Allston elevator accident as a 38-year-old BU lecturer...

Boston 25 News (Television) ^ | September 14, 2020 | Manoella Macedo

[L.A.Justice]

BOSTON — A woman was killed in an accident involving an elevator in Boston Monday evening. Emergency crews flooded the area outside the building at 1140 Commonwealth Avenue shortly after 5 p.m. on Monday. At the scene, authorities told Boston 25 News that they had been responding to reports of a woman trapped.

On Tuesday evening, nearly 24 hours since the accident, officials identified the victim as 38-year-old Carrie O’Connor. Her cause of death has been ruled as traumatic asphyxia, and officials confirmed it was accidental.

O’Connor was employed at Boston University, located just down the road from the accident site. According to her faculty page on the university’s website, O’Connor was a French lecturer in the school’s Romance Studies Department. She also taught at several other local colleges and universities, including Bentley, Northeastern, Tufts, and MIT.

Eric Carmichael’s wife heard her cries for help.

“She heard a woman in distress and tried to help her out as a neighbor," said Carmichael.

Carmichael says his wife saw the woman attempting to put a package onto the elevator.

“The lady was trying to put a package into the elevator, like that’s how we do it," said Charmichael.

Police later removing a large and long brown box from the building. They moved it out front at first, leaning it on a mailbox and then took it away.

O’Connor was a resident in the building. Neighbors told Boston 25 News Tuesday she had just moved into the building a few weeks ago.

“Five feet in front of my door is the elevator so it’s very creepy,” said Foskit.

Foskit says the building manager told him the elevator was stuck between floors.

“All that he told me was that [the elevator] was currently between the first floor and the basement," said Foskit. “[The elevator has] always worked fine. I’ve been here over a year and never had any issues with it.”

People who live at the address were shocked by what happened. Nevada Foskit was waiting out from for more than 90 minutes to get back into his home.

“I heard just an ungodly scream and we ran into the hallway and saw a gentlemen who was in distress screaming and hyperventilating and saying she’s dead, she’s dead," a woman who lives in the building, and who did not want to be identified, told Boston 25 News. Boston Police is investigating and OSHA has also assigned a team to figure out what happened.

According to tax records, the building dates back to 1920. The building had recently been inspected and was certified.

An obit for O’Connor was posted to BU Today, a publication for the school. In it, O’Connor’s parents remember her as an avid learner, linguist and world traveler. You can read the full piece here.

[L.A.Justice]

RIP...

What a horrible accident...It reminds me of the movie THE FINAL DESTINATION...In that movie, people avoid death once but eventually they end up getting killed...I watched sequels as well...

I guess she put the box in the elevator then the elevator suddently went down...Cable failure?

I think the building owner better get ready for the wrongful death lawsuit...

I do use elevator every day...I think elevators are safe most of time...

I don't think elevator repair people ever have to worry about not having work...I think those people are busy all the time...I am sure they are paid well...

[BipolarBob]

Even if cables break there are auxiliary cables that brake when detecting freefall. This is very odd. Elevators are designed to be safe.

[caltaxed]

O’Connor was a French lecturer in the school’s Romance Studies Department.

One less D vote. RIP

[Mr. K]

This article is barely coherent.

What happened?

She put a package onto the elevator, and...?

[Chgogal]

When was the last time there was such a catastrophic evelvator failure?

[Bonemaker]

I wonder if she was one of Cortez’s profs.

[Seruzawa]

It’s very difficult to tell what happened from this very poorly written article.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

“This article is barely coherent.”

I couldn’t agree more. Whatever happened to people that could write a coherent, sensible story? This is just a jumble of words with no structure, no logic, and zero continuity.

[Larry Lucido]

What’s not clear about it? /s

********

“The lady was trying to put a package into the elevator, like that’s how we do it,” said Charmichael.

Police later removing a large and long brown box from the building. They moved it out front at first, leaning it on a mailbox and then took it away.

“Five feet in front of my door is the elevator so it’s very creepy,” said Foskit.

[PGR88]

Indeed, its the low standards of journalism today. The write inconsistent and illogical garbage and don’t even ask the obvious questions

Here is the cause of death - how in the world is the connected to “a big box” and “elevator accident?”

Traumatic asphyxia, or Perthes’s syndrome, is a medical emergency caused by an intense compression of the thoracic cavity, causing venous back-flow from the right side of the heart into the veins of the neck and the brain

[Scrambler Bob]

She was new to the apartment and elevator.

Maybe she pushed some button accidentally with the package while she was in harm’s way.

I could be a journalist. Making up stuff form 2500 miles away, while knowing absolutely nothing. But I did it anyway.

[Bonemaker]

“Police later removing a large and long brown box from the building. They moved it out front at first, leaning it on a mailbox and then took it away.”

Who wrote this drivel? Author and editor are idiots.

[Kickass Conservative]

>>>Her cause of death has been ruled as traumatic asphyxia, and officials confirmed it was accidental<<<

I think “traumatic asphyxia” means more than people think it does, especially the “traumatic” part.

[Ann Archy]

WHO can ake heads or tails out if this story??? So poorly told, I have NO idea what happened.

[Altura Ct.]

I agree the article is a mess.

[rktman]

Trump’s fault.

[Salamander]

https://heavy.com/news/2020/09/carrie-oconnor-elevator-death/

[Dr. Sivana]

There was an “Alfred Hitchcock Hour” TV show I recently saw where an elevator has an improtant role.

Worth watching: “The Trap” (1965)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHWZPYKcyl0

[Mr. Lucky]

Boy howdy.

[oil_dude]

All those words, and no explanation as to how it happened. What passes for journalism these days is atrocious.