Govt.’s negligence killed my father, says son of deceased cab driver

The son of 45-year-old Ramesh Kumar, the cab driver who was killed after a portion of a canopy at Delhi airport’s Terminal 1 collapsed on his car on Friday morning, said “criminal negligence” on the part of the government led to his father’s untimely death.

The son of 45-year-old Ramesh Kumar, the cab driver who was killed after a portion of a canopy at Delhi airport’s Terminal 1 collapsed on his car on Friday morning, said “criminal negligence” on the part of the government led to his father’s untimely death.

“It is pure criminal negligence on the part of the government when a place like the airport in the national capital is not safe. Where should people go? Railway stations or bus stops? Those are not safe either,” said Ravinder Kumar, a student who recently finished his schooling.

The deceased worked for a cab company and would often do airport pick-ups and drops, his son said, adding that due to the rain on Friday, there were few passengers, so several cab drivers had been waiting under the canopy for a ride.

“My father usually worked night shifts. We had no idea he was caught in the accident. We got a call from airport authorities who told us he was injured, so we rushed to Terminal 1, but were told he had already succumbed to his injuries at Safdarjung Hospital,” said Mr. Kumar.

However, the body of the deceased has not yet been handed over to his family, Mr. Kumar said. “We went to the police station and hospital just to see his face, but we were ignored,” he said.

A native of Uttar Pradesh, Kumar had migrated to Delhi for work. He is survived by a family of four, for which he was the sole breadwinner.

“Every day, we see new technology being rolled out at the airport, but the government doesn’t care about safety. Today, I lost my father. Tomorrow, if there are any more deaths, then what? There is a massive question mark on the safety of people in public spaces,” his son said.