Roof collapses at Delhi airport: 1 dead, 8 injured; all flights from T-1 cancelled

The first installment of heavy rains in Delhi brought with them the collapse of the canopy at the old departure forecourt of Delhi Airport Terminal 1 in the early morning today. Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu shared that 1 casualty has been reported and 8 have been injured due to the incident. All flights from Terminal 1 have been cancelled until further notice, the Ministry of Civil Aviation posted on X.

IndiGo and SpiceJet are the only two airlines that carry domestic flight operations from Terminal 1. “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,” informs IndiGo.

“All affected SpiceJet flights departing from Terminal 1 are being re-accommodated to Terminal 3. Necessary information has been communicated to all the passengers via SMS/Email,” reads an updated advisory posted by SpiceJet online.

“Personally 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 ongoing,” Naidu posts on his profile.

The incident was reported to have taken place at 5:00 AM today, with three fire-tenders being sent to the airport after a call about the incident was received by the Delhi Fire Service at around 5:30 AM. A search operation by the DFS officials is underway.

“Inspecting the T1 Terminal and reviewing with the officials. All required rescue operations are being conducted at the terminal,” Naidu shared in another post at 10 AM.

Huge pillars that once supported the roof can be seen smashing into cars parked along the Terminal in videos circulating online.

The roof of the Delhi Airport Terminal 1 collapsed a day after a similar collapse was reported at the Jabalpur airport. Dumna airport in Jabalpur, too, was renovated at a cost of around Rs 450 crore and was inaugurated by Modi on the same day in March.

“Corruption and criminal negligence is responsible for the collapse of shoddy infrastructure falling like a deck of cards, in the past 10 years of Modi Govt,” says Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on X. “All this false bravado and rhetoric was only reserved for quickly indulging in ribbon-cutting ceremonies before Elections,” he adds.

GMR Airports Infrastructure-led DIAL undertook a massive renovation in 2019 to cater to increasing passenger numbers. The airport was inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi on 10 March 2024 this year. Shares of GMR Airports fell 3.03% from yesterday to a low of ₹96.23. This is not the first time the roof of the same terminal collapsed within months of its inauguration. In August 2009, on a very Friday afternoon, the roof collapsed due to heavy rains three months after its inauguration.

The capital heaved a sigh of relief with the first spell of heavy rains received since Thursday, providing a respite from rising temperatures. This, however, has led to waterlogging in some areas. The Indian meteorological department (IMD) has forecast "heavy to very heavy rainfall" over the weekend in the city.