New Delhi — One person was killed and six others injured early Friday morning when a large section of an exterior roof at Delhi’s main international airport collapsed as heavy rain and strong wind lashed the Indian capital.
The canopy roof and massive metallic support beams that held it up crumpled onto the Terminal 1 departure forecourt at Indira Gandhi International Airport at around 5:00 a.m. local time, landing on at least four parked cars and killing a taxi driver in one of them.
Videos shared online showed several cars crushed under the huge beams.
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Terminal 1 is the oldest at Delhi’s international airport, but it was recently renovated and currently hosts about 1,400 flights of the IndiGo and SpiceJet airlines per day. The airport’s Terminals 2 and 3 host other domestic airlines, and international flights.
Dozens of flights were cancelled or diverted to other terminals after the roof collapse as airport authorities suspended all operations at Terminal 1, at least through Friday.
India’s Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu announced government compensation of 2 million rupees ($24,000) for the family of the deceased taxi driver, and 300,000 rupees ($3,600) for the families of those injured.
Kinjarapu also said experts would examine infrastructure at the terminal, along with all other airports across the country, to ensure safety.
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The collapse came as Delhi was battered by a torrential downpour with a thunderstorm. The capital got almost six inches of rain in just three hours on Thursday night, and a total of almost nine inches by Friday morning – the most rainfall Delhi has received on a day in June in 15 years, according to The Indian Express.
The monsoon rains that started lashing Delhi earlier on Thursday did provide relief from deadly heat that has scorched the Indian capital and most other regions of the country — and several neighboring nations — since April, long before the typical onset of peak summer temperatures.
India’s meteorological department has forecast more “heavy to very heavy rainfall” for Delhi over the weekend.
