Visuals from media showed water pouring from the collapsed roof and a taxi stuck under a pillar, even as rain continued to pelt down in the area. - Photos: Screengrabs from Jayant Bhandari and Nayini Anurag Reddy/X
NEW DELHI: Heavy rainfall and winds caused a roof to collapse in the main airport at the Indian capital New Delhi on Friday (June 28), killing one person and injuring several others.
The incident caused authorities to cancel flights from one terminal, officials and media said.
A portion of the canopy at the departures area of Delhi’s Terminal 1 collapsed at 5am local time, a statement from the airport posted on the social media site X said.
“There are injuries reported and emergency personnel are working to provide all necessary assistance and medical aid to those affected,” the statement said.
The Economic Times, citing a fire official, reported that the incident resulted in the death of one person.
India’s minister of civil aviation said in a social media post that rescue operations were in progress and that emergency responders were on site. Terminal 1 handles domestic flights.
Part of the roof collapsed onto the pickup and drop-off area outside the terminal, crushing several vehicles, the Press Trust of India, a news agency, reported, citing local fire officials.
At least six people were injured, according to the report.
Visuals from media showed water pouring from the collapsed roof and a taxi stuck under a pillar, even as rain continued to pelt down in the area, leading to inundated roads and traffic snarls.
All departures from the terminal of low-cost carriers IndiGo and SpiceJet were cancelled until 2pm local time, the statement said.
More than 600 flights out of the airport were delayed and 17 canceled as of around 8am, according to FlightAware, a flight information tracking site.
The terminal was recently renovated and expanded to reach a capacity of 40 million passengers annually, according to a news release from the airport. - Reuters, NYTimes
