School roof collapse in Pakistan kills 34 children and injures more than 50 others

The roof of a private school in Peshawar, in northwestern Pakistan, collapsed on Thursday, killing at least 34 children and a teacher and injuring more than 50 other people. Authorities and a hospital official called it the country’s deadliest incident of its kind. The children killed or injured at Al-Khair school were between six and 12 years old, with the oldest aged 14, said Lady Reading Hospital spokesperson Mohammad Asim. Some of the injured were in critical condition. The hospital declared an emergency as medical staff treated them.

Hours after the collapse in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, emergency services spokesperson Bilal Faizi said everyone trapped beneath the rubble had been pulled out and crews had cleared the debris. He told The Associated Press that the roofs of two classrooms collapsed while second- and third-grade children were inside with their teachers. Ambulances and disaster management personnel arrived from a nearby facility within five minutes of being alerted. Nearly 100 rescuers eventually joined the operation, Faizi said. Panicked and grieving parents were trying to help when crews arrived. He credited the rapid evacuation with saving at least 40 lives and said more than a dozen children suffered minor injuries.

Building collapses are common in Pakistan, where construction standards are often poorly enforced. Many structures are built with substandard materials, and safety regulations are frequently ignored to reduce costs.

Mahwish Zaman, an injured teacher speaking from a hospital bed, said the school had an estimated 1,200 students enrolled from nursery through Grade 5. She told The Associated Press she was in her classroom when the roof collapsed and felt as if the sky had fallen. She regained consciousness in hospital.

As grief gripped the neighbourhood, announcements over mosque loudspeakers urged residents to attend mass funeral prayers for those killed at nearby Rehman Baba cemetery. Residents said most of the children killed lived in Dir Colony, where the school is located, leaving people unsure which bereaved family to visit first to offer condolences. Ambulances were seen leaving the hospital with the children’s bodies to take them home as mourners wept and wailed.

Witnesses said residents were among the first to reach the school in a congested neighbourhood in central Peshawar. Accounts from the scene said rescue workers arrived within minutes of being alerted. Resident Samiullah Khan said he rushed to the school after learning of the collapse and helped rescue three girls. His son, who attends the school, survived because he had stepped out of his classroom for a drink of water. Another resident, Mohammad Khan, said rescuers carefully removed debris as they tried to reach children and staff believed to be trapped. Outside the school and at the state-run Lady Reading Hospital, anguished parents sought news of their children, unsure whether they had survived.

Peshawar police chief Saeed Ahmed said the school’s owner had been arrested and that the building was structurally weak. Police said the investigation was still underway. According to police, after his arrest, owner Mohammad Khan blamed this week’s rains for weakening one of the roofs. The provincial government said it had formed a committee to investigate the cause of the roof collapse at the three-storey building. Provincial government spokesperson Samar Haroon Bilour praised rescue workers for their swift response and said the government was using all available resources to bring anyone trapped beneath the rubble to safety.

In Islamabad, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed sorrow over the deaths and offered condolences to bereaved families in separate statements. “The entire nation shares the grief of the affected families in this hour of sorrow,” Zardari said. He also called for a comprehensive investigation and stressed that school buildings must meet safety standards to prevent similar tragedies. In July, a roof collapsed at a tutoring centre under construction in Lahore, killing four schoolchildren.