1 dead, 6 injured as roof collapses at Delhi Airport; Terminal 1 sees 123 flight cancellations
Delhi airport's Terminal 1 collapsed amid record rain early Friday morning as the monsoon swamped the national capital region. The tubular structure crushed cars, including cabs, as it came down, shutting off entry into the building and leaving passengers stranded.
Flights to and from the terminal at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, one of the busiest in the world, were cancelled, civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu told reporters after inspecting the airport.
T1 is used for the domestic flight operations of IndiGo and SpiceJet, handling about 1,400 movements daily. In total, 123 flights were cancelled.
«I will see that a thorough examination of the terminal's structure is conducted by experts to ensure safety,» Kinjarapu added. Minister of state Murlidhar Mohol said all other airports in the country will undergo a detailed structural inspection. A portion of the canopy of the new terminal building at Jabalpur airport in Madhya Pradesh had caved in after heavy rain on Thursday.
Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) has set up a committee to probe the roof collapse at Terminal 1 of the airport. «Due to heavy rains and winds through the night in Delhi, a canopy at the old departure forecourt of Terminal 1 partially collapsed around 5 am this morning,» a DIAL spokesperson said. «While the cause for the collapse is being assessed, the primary cause seems to be the continued heavy rainfall over the past few hours.»
It's working with agencies such as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation
