9-year-old girl among 3 killed as dust storm batters Delhi

A powerful dust storm accompanied by heavy rain wreaked havoc across Delhi on Wednesday evening, claiming three lives—including that of a nine-year-old girl—and leaving at least 11 others injured, officials confirmed on Thursday.

The victims include a child, a 22-year-old man, and a differently-abled person. The violent weather caught the city off-guard, uprooting trees, damaging infrastructure, and throwing evening traffic into chaos across major roads connecting Delhi to Noida, Ghaziabad, and Gurugram.

The young girl, identified as Sahana alias Chandni, lost her life when an iron window panel fell on her from the third floor of a building. “She was immediately taken to the Civil Lines Trauma Centre, but succumbed to her injuries during treatment,” a senior police officer said.

Following the incident, a crime team inspected the site and a case has been registered against the owner of the house. “We are investigating whether negligence in maintenance led to the accident,” the officer added.

In another tragic incident in southeast Delhi’s Nizamuddin area, a high-beam electricity pole came crashing down during the thunderstorm near the Lodhi Road flyover at around 7:50 pm. It struck a differently-abled man passing by on a tricycle. He was rushed to Safdarjung Hospital but was declared dead on arrival. Authorities are working to confirm his identity.

The third fatality occurred in northeast Delhi’s Gokulpuri area around 8:15 PM, when a tree collapsed, falling on two motorcycles and killing 22-year-old Azhar.

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Additional injuries were reported from various parts of the city. Six people were hurt when a section of the railing on an old foot overbridge near Mukherjee Nagar gave way. Others sustained injuries in incidents linked to the storm in Kashmere Gate and Mangolpuri.

Wednesday’s sudden and extreme shift in weather—from a blisteringly hot afternoon to a violent dust storm—left large swathes of the capital struggling to cope with the fallout. Emergency services continued clean-up and rescue operations well into the night.

(With inputs from PTI)