Heavy rain brings Delhi airport roof crashing

The roof of the canopy at Terminal 1 of Indira Gandhi International Airport IGI collapsed on Friday morning amid heavy rains resulting in one fatality and injuring eight others This is the second such incident this week following the collapse of the canopy roof at Jabalpurrsquos Dumna Airport just a day earlierAuthorities stated that the incident occurred in the early hours An insider source from IGI told midday ldquoI was on duty at T2 when around 5 in the morning there was a distress call on the radio Paramedics and other stakeholders were rushed to the spot NDRF was called inrdquoThe collapse at IGI has led to the immediate suspension of all departures from Terminal 1 until further notice Passengers scheduled to depart from Terminal 1 are being redirected to Terminals 2 and 3 which continue to operate as usual albeit with a slightly increased passenger loadThe roof collapsed at Jabalpur airport and car was damaged last week PicXCivil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu in a press statement said ldquoAll operations from IGI T1 have been suspended till 2 PM on June 28 The airlines have been instructed to follow the DGCA guidelines and either accommodate the passengers in other flights or provide a full refund of the farerdquoIn a statement on X the Civil Aviation Minister posted ldquoPersonally monitoring the roof collapse incident at T1 Delhi Airport First responders are working at the site Also advised the airlines to assist all affected passengers at T1 The injured have been evacuated to hospital Rescue operations are still ongoingrdquoOpened in 2009In response to claims that the building was rushed due to elections Civil Aviation Minister Naidu clarified ldquoWe are taking this incident seriously I want to clarify that the building inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi is on the other side and the building that collapsed here is an old building opened in 2009rdquoParked vehicles damaged by canopy PicPTI inset Cab driver caught under a pillar who lost his lifeDGCA has launched an investigation with initial suspicions being that the heavy rain played a significant role A senior official from DGCA stated ldquoWe will have the structure examined by experts before reaching any final conclusion As of now we suspect the heavy rain to have played a significant role but it is very premature to conclude anything at the momentrdquoDelhi airport posted on social media ldquoDue to heavy rain a portion of canopy at the old departure forecourt of Delhi airportrsquos Terminal 1 collapsedrdquoThe Delhi Police filed an FIR under sections related to death by negligenceWas heavy rain the causeIndependent weather observers in Delhi reported heavy rain at the Safdarjung observatory An industry expert said ldquoThere are chances that there were spots which corroded and rain acted as a catalyst There might be a chance that rain was a cause of the collapse The structural audit records need to be checked If abnormalities were reported but went unattended it is a very grave mistake on all stakeholders involvedrdquo5 AMApprox time of the incidentHighest rainfall recorded in 88 yearsDelhi recorded 2281 mm of rainfall on Friday the highest since 1936 for the month of June and the weatherman predicted more spells over the weekend in the national capital Safdarjung Observatory recorded 2281 mm of rainfall in 24 hours ending at 830 am more than three times the June rainfall average of 741 mmTwo boys drown in rainwaterfilled ditchTwo boys aged eight and 10 years drowned while they were playing in a rainwaterfilled ditch in northeast Delhi police said The incident took place in a fivefootdeep ditch near Pusta Number Five in New Usmanpur area which got filled with water due to heavy rainfallLG orders emergency responseLG V K Saxena took stock of situation after hourslong rain brought the city to a standstill and directed officials to set up an emergency control room and deploy static pumps to address waterlogging reports Chairing an emergency meeting LG said that all senior officers on leave should be asked to report back to duty immediatelyThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever