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), who lived with his family at Vijay Vihar in Rohini. 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 Ltd has formed a technical committee to probe the incident. Govt sources said the structure that collapsed had been erected in 2008-09.
Those undergoing treatment at different hospitals are Santosh Kumar Yadav (28), Dasarath Ahirwar (25), Arvind (34), Sahil Sudan (27) and Yogesh Dhawan (44). The injured include a cab driver, airport staff and a passenger. Three other people, all passengers, apparently told police they didn’t sustain any serious injuries.
The canopy, spanning from departure gates 1 to 2, collapsed around 5am. Four vehicles, including the one in which a taxi driver lost his life, were crushed by the structure.
‘Thunder-like clap, flying glass & chaos’
Santosh Yadav had dropped a Navy officer at the IGI T-1 terminal and was waiting to pick up another officer when he heard what seemed like a thunder clap before lightning in the middle of Friday’s downpour. Then a portion of the terminal canopy started breaking away. Santosh ran for life, but before he could make a clean escape, something hit him hard on the head.
The 28-year-old is now recovering from a head injury at his home in Lado Sarai. “The sound was like before lightning strikes, and suddenly the structure started crumbling,” Santosh, one of the eyewitnesses to the T-1 horror, said on Friday morning.
“People were clicking pictures with their loved ones, and water droplets were falling from the roof,” Santosh said, describing the scene moments before the canopy section came crashing down on waiting cars and people. “I, along with other people, was waiting. I tried to save myself, but something hit my head. Somehow, I reached a safe place,’ he said.
Chaos descended with the canopy. People were heard wailing for help.
Arvind Goswami (34), who has four stitches on his head in an ESIC Hospital in Basai Darapur, was among the injured. He works in the hospitality department and was mopping up water when shards of glass flew at him. “Suddenly there was a loud sound. We didn’t have the time to figure out what had happened. I don’t remember much after that,” he said. Goswami said he hadn’t told his wife about the accident. “She would panic. That’s why I haven’t told her,” he said.
Dasarath Ahirwar (25), who also got injured by the flying glass, could barely whisper. “I received injuries to my head,” he said. As soon as he saw a part of the canopy collapsing, Dasarath tried to run away. “It was like a scene straight out of a nightmare,” he said.
Airline staff and loaders aided the distressed passengers. They provided water, took them to a designated area, assisted foreign passengers and helped disperse them peacefully.
Another eyewitness, Anil Kumar, an employee of a private cab service, said he heard “a loud crashing sound”. “When I came out of my office to check, I saw the canopy of the forecourt had collapsed. Around 6-7 cars were buried under it. Fortunately, the passengers were mostly away from where the part of the canopy had fallen. There was chaos.”
“When the crash happened, several people were at T-1. Airport staff and passengers tried to help out those who were buried under the structure. CISF and other agencies also reached there, and the injured were immediately moved to hospitals,” Anil said.
A head constable at the scene mentioned that rescuers broke car windows to extricate passengers trapped inside cabs. The situation was horrific since there were at least 100 people near the spot. If the structure had collapsed suddenly, there would have been more casualties, but it first tilted and then fell, giving some people time to escape. “A family from Gujarat suffered minor injuries,” he said.