Canopy collapse at New Delhi airport kills 1 and injures 6 in heavy rains

NEW DELHI — A portion of a canopy at a departure terminal at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport collapsed early Friday as heavy pre-monsoon rains lashed the Indian capital, killing one person and injuring six others, officials said.

All flight departures from Terminal 1 were temporarily suspended as rescuers cleared the debris to rescue anyone trapped there, the airport authority said.

The collapse occurred at Terminal 1, which is used for domestic operations at New Delhi’s main airport.

The fire services control room said the injured were taken to a hospital.

“Due to heavy rain since early this morning, a portion of the canopy of the old departure forecourt” collapsed around 5 a.m. (7:30 p.m. Thursday ET), an airport authority statement said.

In addition to the roof, some support beams also collapsed, damaging cars in the pickup and drop-off area at the terminal, the Press Trust of India news agency said.

One of the six injured people was rescued from a car on which an iron beam had fallen, PTI said.

Civil Aviation Minister K. Rammohan Naidu said first responders were working at the site and advised airlines to assist all affected passengers. “Rescue operations are still ongoing,” he said in a post on the X social media platform.