A female inmate at the Correctional Centre for Women in Clarenville who died over the weekend likely choked on food, police say.
The 27-year-old was eating lunch in her cell Friday afternoon when a piece of sandwich became lodged in her windpipe, RCMP Staff Sgt. Larry Turner told The Telegram Monday.
He said a corrections officer who was checking on her saw her pointing at her throat before she suddenly collapsed. Corrections officers performed CPR before she was rushed to hospital.
The woman died at 3:30 a.m. Saturday after hours on life support.
An autopsy is scheduled for this week, but Turner said all indications point to asphyxiation.
“It was an unfortunate incident,” he said, “just one of those freak things that could have happened in my own kitchen.”
Out of respect for the family, the woman’s name is not being released.
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