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Roof of Delhi airport collapses after heavy rains – at least 1 dead

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Part of the roof of a terminal at India’s busiest airport in New Delhi collapsed on Friday after heavy rains, killing at least one person, according to local firefighters. This is the latest public infrastructure in India to be severely tested by the country’s monsoon season.

Key data

A canopy over Terminal 1 of Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi partially collapsed at around 5 a.m. local time, the airport said saidin which, according to the Delhi Fire Service, cars, including some taxis, were crushed.

The collapse resulted in delays or cancellations of all domestic flights. Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, India’s civil aviation minister, said rescue operations were underway at the terminal.

At least eight people were hospitalized with injuries and up to 12 cars were damaged in the incident, airport officials told Reuters.

New Delhi received nearly 23 centimetres of rain in the hours leading up to Friday morning, more than the city’s average rainfall for the whole of June, according to the Indian Meteorological Department.

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Surprising fact

Renovations at the terminal – one of India’s busiest – were completed earlier this year, doubling the airport’s capacity to 40 million passengers a year. Kinjarapu told reporters on Friday that the collapse occurred in an older section of the airport that was not part of the recent expansion, the New York Times reported.

Important background

Other public infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed by severe weather in India over the past year. Last June, a bridge between Aguani and Sultanganj collapsed, reportedly due to “strong winds.” In March, a bridge over the Kosi River collapsed, killing one construction worker and injuring eight others. Last week, a 180-meter-long bridge collapsed. Heavy rains in an area near Nepal caused a 70-meter-long bridge to collapse after a rise in water levels increased the flow of the river beneath the bridge, damaging one of its piers.

Further information

New York TimesAfter heavy rains, part of the roof collapses at India’s busiest airport

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