In an alarming incident that led to many red faces, the heavy downpour brought down the canopy at the forecourt of Terminal 1 at IGI Airport last week, leaving a cab driver dead and eight people injured. This threw flights at the terminal into disarray.
A bigger tragedy was averted as eyewitnesses said around 100 people were present at the spot when the incident took place. The canopy had tilted before coming down, which allowed most of the people to escape.
The deceased was identified as Ramesh Kumar (45). He had come to drop a passenger and was about to head home when the incident took place. A case under IPC Sections 304A (causing death by negligence) and 337 (causing hurt by an act endangering life or personal safety of others) has been registered by police and an investigation launched. Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) has formed a technical committee to establish the reasons for the incident. Govt sources said the structure that collapsed had been erected in 2008-09.
Atul Garg, director of Delhi Fire Service said they had sent four fire tenders to the spot along with 20 firefighters for the rescue operation. Another fire officer added that they found that a cab had been crushed by an iron pillar and the driver was trapped in his seat and was unconscious. “We called a crane and removed the cab. With the help of cutters, we extricated the person, who was rushed to hospital where he was unfortunately declared dead,” the officer said.
“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 terminals 2 and 3 until the impacted areas are restored for operations,” said a DIAL spokesperson, adding, a “compensation of Rs 20,00,000 for the victim’s family and Rs 300,000 each for those who received minor injuries” has been announced.
Heavy rain claims 11 lives
Meanwhile, at least 11 people, including two woman and three children, were killed in rain-related incidents as heavy rains lashed Delhi last week, causing serpentine traffic jams and water logging in several areas.
Canopy collapses at Rajkot airport
A fibre canopy outside the Rajkot International Airport terminal crashed last week just when a flight from Mumbai was scheduled to land. However, no one was injured in the incident that occurred at the passenger pick-up and drop-off point outside the interim terminal building.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the canopy collapsed due to water accumulation on the top and gusty winds. No flight operations were also affected due to the incident.
