Rabat – A roof collapse at a private school in Peshawar, northwestern Pakistan, killed 28 children aged 13 and younger and one teacher, and injured more than 50 others today, according to the Associated Press.
The incident occurred at Al-Khair Education Center in Peshawar’s Dir Colony area, where children were attending classes when the building’s roof collapsed. Reports said the structure had three floors and served around 1,200 pupils from nursery through fifth grade.
Rescue workers, emergency services and local residents rushed to the site to search for children trapped beneath the debris. Authorities transported the injured to nearby hospitals, including Lady Reading Hospital, which declared an emergency to handle the casualties.
An injured teacher told the Associated Press that she had been inside her classroom when the roof collapsed. She later regained consciousness in hospital.
Police chief Mian Saeed said the building had a weak structure, while preliminary accounts pointed to excessive weight on the roof from construction work. Authorities have not announced a final cause for the collapse.
Police arrested the school’s owner as investigators began examining the circumstances surrounding the incident. Rescue officials later reported that they had recovered everyone trapped beneath the rubble.
Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari called for a comprehensive investigation and stressed the need to enforce safety standards in school buildings.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed condolences to the victims’ families and directed authorities to speed up rescue efforts and provide medical care to the injured. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi also requested a detailed report and called for proper treatment for the affected children.
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar joined other officials in expressing condolences and stressing the importance of protecting children.
The collapse comes months after another deadly incident at a tuition center in Lahore, where 14 children died in June.
