Punjab Newsline, News Delhi, June 28-
Early morning showers on Friday in Delhi brought down a section of the roof at Terminal 1 at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International airport killing one person, and injuring six others. Flights arriving and departing from the terminal were suspended temporarily.
Delhi police, fire service, CISF and NDRF teams rushed to the spot for rescue operations. Minister for Civil Aviation, Rammohan Naidu, too visited the site to monitor the situation.
“At around 5 a.m., due to heavy rains, the shed outside Terminal 1 of IGI, spanning from departure gate no. 1 to gate no. 2, collapsed, in which around 4 vehicles were damaged and around six persons have been injured and one person has died. All injured persons are stable. Legal action is also being taken,” DCP (IGI) Usha Rangnani said.
Following the incident, the terminal 1 was completely evacuated. It will remain closed till tomorrow until inspections are concluded, Minister Naidu said. All flights arriving at and departing from Terminal 1 till 2 p.m. were cancelled. While flights later in the day will be accommodated in Terminal 2 and Terminal 3, a senior official in the Ministry of Civil Aviation said.
The DGCA will conduct an expert audit of the airport. Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) is a joint venture, formed as a consortium between GMR Airports Limited (Subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure Limited) (64%), Airports Authority of India (26%), and Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide (10%).
he Minister also announced an ex gratia of 20 lakh compensation for the deceased, and 3 lakh for the injured.