Heavy rain accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning, hit Delhi-NCR in the small hours of Friday morning causing severe water-logging and flooding in various parts of the national Capital.

Flooded roads witnessed massive gridlock and miles-long traffic snarls causing too much inconvenience to road users.

Under the impact of the downpour, a portion of a canopy at the Indira Gandhi International Airport's Terminal 1 (T1) collapsed and fell down killing a cab driver and injuring at least six others. The falling debris enshrouded several cars parked under the canopy. Following the incident, departure of all flights from Terminal 1 were temporarily suspended and shifted to Terminal -3.

Suspension of operations at T-1 comes at a time when the expanded terminal was supposed to open after a long wait. Passengers now stare at chaos in the oncoming weekend of summer holiday and peak travel season as Delhi and NCR schools reopen from July 1 onwards. A Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) statement said that a technical committee had been set up to investigate the roof collapse.

Union Minister of Civil Aviation Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu took stock of the situation after the roof collapse and rushed to Safdarjung Hospital to visit those affected. "We are taking this incident very seriously", Naidu said.

Naidu clarified that the building inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi is on the other side of the site, while the collapsed building is an older structure that was opened in 2009.

Speaking to reporters at the site, Naidu expressed condolences for the loss of life due to heavy rainfall and reported that four people had been injured.  The minister  announced Rs 20 lakh compensation for the kin of the deceased, and Rs 3 lakh for the injured.

Delhi Fire Services (DFS) officials said three fire tenders were rushed to Terminal-1 (T1) of the airport after a call about the incident was received around 5:30 am.

According to officials, besides the roof sheet, the support beams collapsed, damaging the cars parked in the pick-up and drop area of the terminal. A search operation was conducted to make sure no one was trapped inside the damaged vehicles. Around 10-12 cars were damaged in the incident, said one of the workers at the airport.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI) Usha Rangnani said due to heavy rains, the shed outside Terminal-1 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), spanning from departure gate no. 1 to gate no. 2, collapsed around 5 am, damaging four vehicles.One person died and six people were injured in the incident. All the injured are stable, she said. Teams of Delhi Police, DFS, Central Industrial Security Force and National Disaster Response Force are present at the spot, the DCP said. The injured have been admitted to Medanta Hospital near the airport. One of them was rescued from a car on which an iron beam had fallen. He was later identified as Ramesh Kumar, they added. A police official said the deceased was identified as Ramesh Kumar (45), a taxi driver and a resident of Rohini in Delhi.

The injured have been identified as Santosh Kumar Yadav (28), Subham Shah (30), Dashrat Ahirwar (25), Arvind Goswami (34), Sahil Kundan (27) and Yogesh Dhawan (44). They are residents of Delhi, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, the official said.

According to a cab driver who was at the site of the incident, there was no loud noise of anything breaking when the rods of a portion of a roof collapsed at the Delhi airport's Terminal-1. He said that after the rods fell on the cars parked at the site, people became aware of the incident and chaos ensued with them shouting for help.

A Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) spokesperson said, "Due to heavy rain since early this morning, a portion of the canopy at the old departure forecourt of the Delhi airport's Terminal-1 collapsed around 5 am. There are injuries reported and emergency personnel are working to provide all necessary assistance and medical aid to those affected."As a result of this incident, all departures from Terminal 1 are temporarily suspended and check-in counters have been closed as a safety measure, the spokesperson said in a statement.