One killed, six injured after portion of roof collapses at Delhi airport

New Delhi: A section of the roof collapsed in the portico of Delhi airport’s Terminal 1 early on Friday morning, leading to the death of one person and causing injuries to six others as heavy monsoon rains deluged Delhi, raining devastation on a city ill-prepared for a three-hour downpour.

Flight operations at this terminal were suspended till Saturday after the incident and all landings, of IndiGo and SpiceJet aircraft, were shifted to Terminals 2 and 3. The government has ordered airlines to refund the full amount to passengers affected due to this incident or adjust it with alternate flights and routes at the earliest. All airlines have been told to maintain fare stability and not to hike airfares at this juncture.

Union civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu rushed to the accident site on Friday morning and visited the injured in hospital. He has ordered an inquiry into the incident. The collapse of a roof in Delhi comes hours after a section of the roof collapsed at Jabalpur airport. Mr Naidu said he has ordered a safety audit of all airports across India.

“It is a very unfortunate incident that happened at Terminal 1 of Delhi Airport, which killed one person… All injured are undergoing treatment. One of them has been discharged. Rs 20 lakh compensation will be given to the family of the deceased and Rs 3 lakh compensation will be given to the injured,” said Mr Naidu.

“We have deployed an initial investigation team from the IIT Delhi structural department so that we can get an impartial investigation. We are waiting for the initial investigation report from them. Based on the initial findings, we will see if any further investigation is required and a decision will be taken,” he added. Similarly, the incident at Jabalpur airport is also being examined, he added.

Sharing details, Delhi Fire Service director Atul Garg said they received information about the incident at 5.30 am, following which four fire tenders were immediately rushed to the spot. At the airport, the firemen saw that a portion of the roof had collapsed on some cars in the pick-and-drop area due to which a few people were trapped while some others had sustained injuries.

The injured were rushed to hospital while a rescue operation was begun to rescue those who got trapped under the heavy structure of the roof. A cab driver who was sitting in his parked car was among those trapped as an iron beam of the roof had fallen on his vehicle.

“We removed seven people in injured condition from the airport and shifted them to hospital through PCR vans. One among the seven was already dead when he was rescued,” Mr Garg said. All the injured are now reported to be stable.

Deputy commissioner of police (IGI-A) Usha Rangnani said the shed outside Terminal 1 had collapsed due to the rains. The Delhi police has lodged an FIR in this case.

The civil aviation minister convened a high-level review meeting with key officials, including the secretary, ministry of civil aviation, the D-G of civil aviation, the chairman of the Airports Authority of India, the D-G of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security and joint secretaries of the ministry. At the meeting, certain decisions were taken to address the situation and ensure the safety and convenience of passengers. This includes setting up of a 24x7 “war room” to ensure the full refund of cancelled flights or provide alternative travel route/tickets as per availability. All refunds will be processed within a stipulated time of seven days and contact details, including phone numbers, will be provided to passengers for immediate assistance, ministry officials said.

An advisory has been released to all airlines to ensure that this situation does not lead to any steep increase in airfares and maintain fare stability to avoid passenger inconvenience. The AAI has been directed to issue a circular to all minor and major airports to conduct a thorough inspection of structural strength. These inspections must be completed within the next 2-5 days, and the reports are to be submitted to the ministry.

Based on the findings, the need for increased safety measures and the development of long-term policies to prevent the recurrence of such unfortunate incidents will be formulated at priority, the ministry officials said.

A war of words and blame game erupted between the Opposition and the government after the incident. The Opposition alleged that this terminal was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and in the hurry to inaugurate it, the project's safety and quality of work was compromised by the government.

However, Mr Naidu refuted this claim, saying this terminal was built in 2008-09, when the UPA government was in power. He clarified that it was another building in T1 that the PM inaugurated in March this year.

The UPA’s then civil aviation minister, Praful Patel, who is now a part of the NDA alliance, said: “It's unfortunate that a portion of Delhi airport’s Terminal 1 collapsed. I can't understand the politics being done on this. A building was built 15 years ago and work was being carried out from there. An investigation should be conducted into the incident. A major company, Larsen & Toubro, built this airport. Why should politics be done on this? Instead, action should be taken.” Government sources said the work was contracted out by airport operator GMR to certain private contractors for this area.

L&T, in a statement, said the collapsed structure was built by another company in 2009. “At the request of Delhi International Airport Ltd, L&T undertook an expansion project for T1 in 2019. The collapse occurred approximately 110 meters from the extended portion of T1, which was constructed by L&T and commissioned in March 2024. We confirm that the collapse has had no impact on this extended portion,” t

the L&T statement said.

The Trinamul Congress attacked the Central government, alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s guarantee was “crumbling”.

“A Glimpse into PM Modi’s ‘Guarantee’: Crumbling under his lies… The roof at Delhi Airport’s T1 collapsed… which Modi hastily ‘inaugurated’ in March, despite its unfinished state, just for election optics,” the TMC said in its X post.

“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 government,” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in a post on X.

“Delhi Airport (T1) roof collapse, Jabalpur airport roof collapse, abysmal condition of Ayodhya’s new roads, Ram Mandir leakage, cracks in Mumbai Trans Harbour Link road, 13 new bridges falling down in Bihar in 2023 & 2024, Pragati Maidan Tunnel submerging, Morbi bridge collapse tragedy in Gujarat… are some stark instances which exposes the tall claims by Modi ji and BJP of creating ‘world class infrastructure’,” he said, adding that on March 10, when Modi ji inaugurated Delhi Airport T1, he called himself ‘Doosri mitti ka insaan...’.

“All this false bravado and rhetoric was only reserved for quickly indulging in ribbon-cutting ceremonies before elections. Our heartfelt condolences to the victims of the Delhi airport tragedy. They bore the brunt of a corrupt, inept and selfish government,” Mr Kharge charged.