Heavy rains lead to Delhi airport roof collapse killing cab driver, injuring six

NEW DELHI,

A CAB driver died and six people were injured after a portion of a canopy at Delhi airport’s Terminal-1 collapsed on cars amid heavy rain early on Friday, leading to suspension of flight departures, according to officials. Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu visited Terminal-1 (T1) to take stock of the situation. He said he was monitoring the situation and the injured had been hospitalised. “Investigation has begun. We will also bring experts from the department to investigate this. Action will be taken based on the report that will come,” Naidu said. Delhi Fire Services (DFS) officials said three fire tenders were rushed to Terminal-1 (T1) of the airport after a call about the incident was received around 5:30 am. Besides the roof sheet, the support beams collapsed, damaging the cars parked in the pick-up and drop area of the terminal. A search operation was conducted to make sure no one was trapped inside the damaged vehicles, they said.

The injured have been admitted to Medanta Hospital near the airport. One of them was rescued from a car on which an iron beam had fallen. He was later identified as Ramesh Kumar, they added. Work was underway to clear the debris. Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI) Usha Rangnani said due to heavy rains, the shed outside Terminal-1 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), spanning from departure gate no. 1 to gate no. 2, collapsed around 5 am, damaging four vehicles. One person died and six people were injured in the incident. All the injured are stable, she said. Teams of Delhi Police, DFS, Central Industrial Security Force and National Disaster Response Force are present at the spot, the DCP said. A police official said the deceased was identified as Ramesh Kumar (45), a taxi driver and a resident of Rohini in Delhi.

The injured have been identified as Santosh Kumar Yadav (28), Subham Shah (30), Dashrat Ahirwar (25), Arvind Goswami (34), Sahil Kundan (27) and Yogesh Dhawan (44). They are residents of Delhi, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, the official said. Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu visited the airport terminal and took stock of the situation. “Personally monitoring the roof collapse incident at T1 Delhi Airport. First responders are working at site. Also advised the airlines to assist all affected passengers at T1,” he said in a post on X. “The injured have been evacuated to hospital. Rescue operations are still ongoing,” he added. The Civil Aviation Ministry said flight operations at T1 have been suspended till further notice.