US inquiry into death of buttock surgery woman, 20

Claudia Aderotimi, 20, suffered medical complications in the wake of the procedure.

The young woman from London, thought to be a Nigerian national, travelled to Philadelphia with three friends.

Two were understood to have been travelling to New York while the others had injections in their buttocks on Monday.

Ms Aderotimi began to suffer chest pains and had trouble breathing. She was rushed from her hotel, the Hampton Inn in south-west Philadelphia where the treatment was carried out, to Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital, in Darby, where she died later that day.

The other woman has not needed hospital care, police said.

Officers investigating Ms Aderotimi’s death said the cosmetic procedure was arranged over the internet and have questioned a woman believed to be involved in it.

Ms Aderotimi’s family in north London were too upset to talk last night.

Relatives at her flat on the Geffrye estate in Hackney said it was “too private” to talk about.

A 17-year-old neighbour who did not want to be named said: “She seemed nice and she was pretty. I don’t know why she felt she had to do that. It seems like a waste.”

In the USA, Lt Ray Evers said police carried out a search warrant on Tuesday evening at the Bergen County, New Jersey, home of a woman they think set up the appointment online.

She has been questioned but is not under arrest.

Authorities were still pursuing a second woman they believe performed the procedure, Lt Evers added.

Lt John Walker, of the Philadelphia police, said earlier: “We’re not quite sure right now if that person performing that procedure is licensed or unlicensed. We’re still working that information right now.”

He said investigators were also awaiting test results to determine the substance used.

TV channel NBC quoted the Delaware County medical examiner as saying Ms Aderotimi’s preliminary cause of death was silicone injected into her vascular system, which stopped her heart. Procedures involving the injection of liquid silicone to enlarge body tissue or fill wrinkles are prohibited in the US.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: “We are aware of reports of a UK resident who tragically died in Philadelphia.”