A portion of a canopy at a departure terminal at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport collapsed early Friday under heavy rainfall and winds, killing one person and injuring eight others, Indian officials said.
All flight departures from Terminal 1 were temporarily suspended as rescuers cleared the debris to rescue anyone trapped there, the airport authority said.
The collapse occurred at Terminal 1, which is used for domestic operations at New Delhi’s main airport.
The fire services control room said the injured were taken to hospital.
“Due to heavy rain since early this morning, a portion of the canopy of the old departure forecourt” collapsed at around 5 a.m., an airport authority statement said.
In addition to the roof, some support beams also collapsed, damaging cars in the pickup and drop-off area at the terminal, the Press Trust of India news agency said.
One of the eight injured people was rescued from a car on which an iron beam had fallen, PTI said.
Civil Aviation Minister K. Rammohan Naidu said first responders were working at the site and advised airlines to assist all affected passengers. "Rescue operations are still ongoing,” he said in a post on the X social media platform.
The airport area received about 148.5 millimeters of rain over three hours in the early morning, more than the average for all of June, according to India's weather office.
Many other parts of Delhi were flooded as well, and cars trapped in thigh-deep water. Metro services were affected and traffic snarls were reported from several parts of the city.
Several residents in Delhi also complained of power cuts.
