Delhi Airport Roof Collapsed: 1 dead, 8 injured, flight operations suspended; support extended to affected people

IGI T1 Terminal Roof Collapsed: Heavy rain in early morning today has resulted in the collapse of the canopy of #DelhiAirport Terminal 1. As a result of which, one person died while five got injured, while flights to and from the terminal had been closed till further notice. 

#WATCH | 4 people were injured after a roof collapsed at the Terminal-1 of Delhi airport.

(Video source - Delhi Fire Service) pic.twitter.com/Uc0qTNnMKe

— ANI (@ANI) June 28, 2024

Terminal 1 Incident pic.twitter.com/Dv9Sir5l4p

— Delhi Airport (@DelhiAirport) June 28, 2024

In a tweet, Civil Aviation ministry informed that "heavy rain in early morning today has resulted in the collapse of the canopy of #DelhiAirport Terminal 1. As a result of which flights to and from Terminal 1 have been closed till further notice. Alternate arrangements are being made for smooth operation of the flights."

Heavy rain in early morning today has resulted in the collapse of the canopy of #DelhiAirport Terminal 1. As a result of which flights to & from Terminal 1 have been closed till further notice. Alternate arrangements are being made for smooth operation of the flights.

— MoCA_GoI (@MoCA_GoI) June 28, 2024

A DIAL spokesperson, meanwhile 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. As per the Indian Metreological Department, Delhi Safdarjung recorded massive 228.1mm of rains in last 24 hours (mainly in the early morning hours of today).  This is the highest 24 hours rain in Delhi in June after 1936, the average rainfall in the area in last 30 years is 75.2 mm."

The spokesperson further said, "During this incident, four (4) vehicles were damaged, and eight (8) individuals received minor injuries and were provided immediate medical assistance at the Medanta Centre at Delhi Airport. The injured have been shifted to ESI Hospital and Indian Spinal Injury Centre (later they were referred to Safdarjung Hospital) for further medical supervision, as required. Unfortunately, one fatality was reported in the incident.

"As a precautionary measure, all flight operations from Terminal 1 have been suspended till further notice and rescheduled by the respective Airlines to operate from Terminal 2 and Terminal 3, till the impacted areas are restored for operations."

The spokeseperson added, "Further, Delhi Airport is extending all support to the impacted individuals and the family of the deceased and has announced a compensation of Rs 20 lakh to the family of the deceased, and Rs 3 lakh each to those who received minor injuries.

"Further, a Technical Committee has been formed by DIAL to investigate the cause of the incident and will give the report as soon as possible. In addition, DIAL is working with all relevant agencies, including Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Bureau of Civil Aviation (BCAS), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Delhi Police and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are jointly working to assess the situation and restore operations."

After the incident, Union civil aviation minister, Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu also visited the airport on Friday.

Inspecting the T1 Terminal and reviewing with the officials.
All required rescue operations are being conducted at the terminal pic.twitter.com/6ck4ce39RY

— Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu (@RamMNK) June 28, 2024

The DGCA has issued instructions to airlines that they should provide all possible help to passengers.

The governing body said that the airlines should provide information on app, portal, social media for alternate options.

The central government may also announce compensation after the airport incident.

Air India said that flights can be affected due to bad weather. It has advised passenger check flight status before leaving for the Delhi airport.

"#TravelAdvisory - Heavy rains in Delhi may result in flight delays to and from #Delhiairport today. Guests are advised to check the status of their flights (https://bit.ly/45LHjGN) before heading to the airport and keep sufficient time in hand in view of heavy traffic on the roads. For more information, please call our Contact Centre on 011 6932 9333 & 011 6932 9999 or visit our website http://airindia.com," said Air India in a tweet.

#TravelAdvisory - Heavy rains in Delhi may result in flight delays to and from #Delhiairport today. Guests are advised to check the status of their flights (https://t.co/wPKs88wrht) before heading to the airport and keep sufficient time in hand in view of heavy traffic on the…

— Air India (@airindia) June 28, 2024

Other airlines have also been informing to their passengers about flight cancellations. In a tweet, IndiGO said, "#6ETravelAdvisory: Due to structural damage to #DelhiAirport (Terminal 1) caused by adverse weather, flight operations are impacted. All flights scheduled to depart between 1000-1400 hrs have been cancelled."

#6ETravelAdvisory: #DelhiAirport Terminal 1 update - Due to the unforeseen situation at T1 this morning, all flights from #DelhiAirport T1 have been cancelled until 0000 hrs, June 29. Further, flights due to arrive at T1, will now arrive either at T2 or T3 in #Delhi.

— IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) June 28, 2024

SpiceJet also informed passengers about flight cancellations. It said in a tweet, "Important Update: Due to bad weather (heavy rains), SpiceJet flights have been cancelled as Terminal 1 of Delhi Airport will remain partially closed for operations until further notice. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding. Please contact us at +91 (0)124 4983410/+91 (0)124 7101600 for alternate options or full refund or refer to http://changes.spicejet.com. Please keep a watch on our Social Media channels for further updates.

Important Update: Due to bad weather (heavy rains), SpiceJet flights have been cancelled as Terminal 1 of Delhi Airport will remain partially closed for operations until further notice. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding. Please contact us at…

— SpiceJet (@flyspicejet) June 28, 2024