Child dies after plane from Joplin to Chicago makes emergency landing

PEORIA COUNTY, IL (KOAM) - An 8-year-old girl died Thursday after a United Airlines flight from Joplin, MO, made an emergency landing.

United Airlines Flight 5121 took off from the Joplin Regional Airport early Thursday (June 13) morning. It was set to land in Chicago at 7:54 a.m., but instead landed at the Peoria International Airport in Illinois due to a medical emergency.

The Peoria County Sheriff's Office responded to a call about the landing around 7:00 a.m.

Sheriff Chris Watkins states when the plane landed Deputies, AMT Personnel, and Air National Guard Fire personnel immediately got the 8-year-old female child and began life-saving measures.

AMT took the child to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead.

"Please keep the child's family and everyone who was involved in this traumatic experience in your thoughts and prayers," Sheriff Watkins states in a release.

Authorities are still investigating the incident.

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