Eleven Dead in Indian Capital after Heavy Rain, Flight Operations Stutter

A man walks along a road amid heavy rainfall in New Delhi on June 29, 2024. (AFP)
A man walks along a road amid heavy rainfall in New Delhi on June 29, 2024. (AFP)
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Eleven Dead in Indian Capital after Heavy Rain, Flight Operations Stutter

A man walks along a road amid heavy rainfall in New Delhi on June 29, 2024. (AFP)
A man walks along a road amid heavy rainfall in New Delhi on June 29, 2024. (AFP)

The death toll from this week's sudden heavy rain has climbed to 11 in New Delhi, including four citizens who drowned in submerged underpasses, the Times of India reported, while flight operations stuttered in the Indian capital.

New Delhi, which endured one of its worst heatwaves in history earlier this month, faced the biggest downpour in decades on June 28, with rainfall in a single day surpassing the city's average for the entire month.

The torrential rain caused a fatal roof collapse at one of the three terminals of Delhi's main airport, disrupted flights, flooded underpasses, and led to massive traffic jams, power and water outages in parts of the city.

Nearly 60 flights were cancelled from New Delhi's main airport in the last 24 hours, according to data from flight tracking platform Flightaware.

Operations were largely normal on Sunday, with most flights from the affected terminal diverted to the other two, an airport official said but did not rule out possible flight cancellations in the course of the day.

The Delhi airport is one of the country's biggest and busiest.

Terminal 1, the now-closed terminal, is mostly used by low-cost carriers IndiGo, operated by Interglobe Aviation, and SpiceJet, and currently has a capacity to handle 40 million passengers annually.

An Indigo spokesperson did not comment on the flight cancellations and a SpiceJet spokesperson did not immediately respond to a phone call.



Police Arrest Teen Suspected of Stabbing Student at Sydney University

A member of the New South Wales (NSW) law enforcement team works at the scene of an alleged stabbing at the University of Sydney, in Sydney, Australia July 2, 2024.   AAP/Dan Himbrechts via REUTERS
A member of the New South Wales (NSW) law enforcement team works at the scene of an alleged stabbing at the University of Sydney, in Sydney, Australia July 2, 2024. AAP/Dan Himbrechts via REUTERS
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Police Arrest Teen Suspected of Stabbing Student at Sydney University

A member of the New South Wales (NSW) law enforcement team works at the scene of an alleged stabbing at the University of Sydney, in Sydney, Australia July 2, 2024.   AAP/Dan Himbrechts via REUTERS
A member of the New South Wales (NSW) law enforcement team works at the scene of an alleged stabbing at the University of Sydney, in Sydney, Australia July 2, 2024. AAP/Dan Himbrechts via REUTERS

A 14-year-old boy dressed in military clothing was arrested after police alleged he stabbed a 22-year-old student in the neck Tuesday at the University of Sydney.

The student was taken to hospital in a stable condition. The suspect was treated in hospital for cuts and was kept for a mental health assessment, said Mark Walton, acting assistant commissioner for the New South Wales Police.
“A motive or ideology importantly has not been determined at this time,” Walton told reporters. The New South Wales Joint Counterterrorism Committee was investigating the matter, but there was no ongoing threat to the community, Walton said.

“The ideology that may be related to this young person’s activity is unknown, but I would say it’s likely to be categorized as mixed and unclear ideology. It’s certainly not a religiously related ideology,” Walton added.

Walton said the boy had worn a “camouflage defense force uniform” and left a kitchen knife at the scene, The Associated Press reported.

The boy caught a bus from the university to a nearby hospital for treatment before he was arrested, police said.
Investigators found no link between the university attack and a 16-year-old boy charged with performing a terrorist act in the stabbing of a Sydney bishop on April 15 while a church service was being streamed online. Several of his teen associates have been charged with various offences including conspiring to engage in or planning as terrorist act.