34 children, teacher killed in school roof collapse in Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (MNTV) — At least 34 children and a female teacher were killed Thursday when the roof of a private school collapsed in the Afridi Abad area of Peshawar, trapping students beneath the debris, officials said.

Lady Reading Hospital spokesperson Muhammad Asim told Dawn that 33 bodies had been brought to the hospital. The victims included 32 students aged 7 to 14 and a female teacher, he said. Two additional bodies were taken to Naseerullah Khan Babar Memorial Hospital, according to the hospital administration.

Six girls were among the victims, the hospital administration said.

Twenty injured children were also brought to Lady Reading Hospital, most of whom were later discharged. Three children who sustained serious head injuries remained under treatment, Asim said.

Peshawar Deputy Commissioner Afaq Wazir told Geo News that the rescue operation had concluded after teams cleared the debris and rescued everyone trapped beneath it.

“Rescue teams have cleared all the debris, and no more injured children are at the scene,” he said.

An emergency was declared at Lady Reading Hospital following the collapse.

School owner arrested

Capital City Police Officer Dr. Mian Saeed Ahmed said the building’s structure was weak and that its roof had been overloaded.

“Its roof was overweight with construction on a weak structure that caused the collapse,” AFP quoted him as saying.

Police said the school owner had been arrested over the alleged use of substandard construction materials. The owner had been operating the institution as an education trust, the police chief added.

A rescue official told AFP that the roof of an upper floor collapsed onto the floor below, bringing down two storeys and trapping students in their classrooms.

According to the deputy commissioner’s office, students were attending classes when the incident occurred.

Senior Superintendent of Police Operations said between 110 and 115 children were inside the building when the roof collapsed. He said T-iron beams and planks had been used in the roof’s construction, and the structure had failed under the weight.

A police investigation officer also alleged that substandard materials had been used in the building.

Provincial Education Secretary Inayatullah Waseem directed the managing director of the Private Schools Regulatory Authority to submit a report on the incident by Friday. He also expressed condolences to the families of the children and teacher who died.

Parent recounts rescue

Samiullah, a parent who rushed to the school after learning of the collapse, told Dawn that he had rescued three girls, all younger than 8.

“I received a call from home at around 8:50 a.m. and reached the site about 10 minutes later, at around 9 a.m. We have six children studying at the school,” he said.

“When I saw the building, I thought my son, who was in a ground-floor classroom beneath the collapsed first floor, had also died. However, he had left the classroom to drink water,” he added.

Resident Sher Ahmed blamed what he described as substandard construction materials for the tragedy and called for a thorough investigation.

“With profound grief and sorrow, I urge the authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and take strict action against anyone found responsible so that such tragedies can be prevented in the future,” he said.

Series of building collapses

Roof and building collapses are a recurring problem in Pakistan, with poor safety standards and substandard construction materials often cited as contributing factors.

In July, three girls aged 3 to 13 were killed when part of the outer wall of a government primary school near Umerkot collapsed on them.

That month, a child died and at least five other people were injured when the roof of an under-construction private school building collapsed in Lahore’s Baghbanpura neighborhood.

On June 30, 14 children were killed when the roof of a private tuition center collapsed in Lahore’s Kahna area. Less than two months earlier, four children had died and 20 people were injured when a classroom roof collapsed at a private school in Dera Ghazi Khan. A subsequent investigation found that construction work on an extension to the building was underway when the classroom roof collapsed.

Last week, two men died in Pakpattan when the roof of their house collapsed during heavy rain and a windstorm.

In June, a laborer was killed and three others injured when the roof of a building under construction collapsed in Khawaspur, near Lalamusa in Gujrat district. That month, two people were injured in a house roof collapse in Lahore’s Nishtar area.

In August, a couple were killed and their daughters injured when the roof of their house in Islamabad’s Shahzad Town collapsed after three days of heavy rain.