One injured person commented, “It seems like I have escaped from the jaws of death,” following the earlier in the day ceiling collapse at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport, which claimed the life of a taxi driver and left six others injured.
Early today, in the midst of intense rain, a section of a canopy at Delhi airport’s Terminal-1 collapsed on cars, causing flight departures to be suspended. at addition to the roof sheet, the support beams gave way, causing damage to the vehicles parked at the terminal’s pick-up and drop zone.
Two of the injured victims were exclusively interviewed by the news agency and related their terrifying stories.
One of the airport staff, Arvind Goswami, who got injured in the roof collapse incident, said he was working at Gate No. 1 of Terminal-1 when suddenly glass placed on the roof started falling on him.
“The incident took place at around 3.30 am and I along with other staff were working under the shed that collapsed. Rainwater was flooding near the VIP gate at the airport, and our duty was at Gate 1. The supervisor instructed us to pump out the water from the VIP gate,” Arvind said.
“Suddenly, I heard a sound like lightning, and when I looked back, everything was collapsing. As we all ran, debris fell on my head and I lost consciousness. I was then taken to the hospital by people at the scene. For me, it is like escaping from the jaws of death,” he said.
Another airport staff member, Dashrath Ahirwa, also described a similar terrifying experience. He said that he got injured at the time when he was pumping out rainwater that was seeping inside the airport.
“At around 3.15 am, we were pumping out rainwater that was seeping inside when suddenly I saw the ceiling of the building falling. When the glass broke, it fell on me, causing a severe head injury. There were many people working in the area at the time of the collapse,” the 25-year-old said.
All of the wounded were sent urgently to the airport-proximate Medanta Hospital. From a car on which an iron beam had fallen, one of them was saved.
Four vehicles were damaged when the shed outside Terminal 1 of the airport collapsed due to severe rains, according to Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI) Usha Rangnani. The shed stretched from Departure Gate No. 1 to Gate No. 2.
Santosh Kumar Yadav (28), Yogesh Dhawan (44), Sahil Kundan (27), and Subham Shah (30) have been identified as more injured parties.
As a precautionary measure, check-in counters have been shuttered and all departures from Terminal 1 are now suspended due to the incident.
