Pakistan school roof collapse kills 34 children and a teacher

At least 34 children and a female teacher were killed when the roof of a private school collapsed during morning classes in Peshawar, northwestern Pakistan, on Thursday, prompting an investigation into the building’s safety and calls for accountability.

The collapse occurred at about 8.48am local time at the privately run Al-Khair Education Center in Dir Colony, a densely populated neighbourhood in the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. At least 45 people were injured, according to rescue officials, with some children suffering serious injuries.

Most of the children killed were younger than 13 and came from low-income families, Reuters reported.

Rescue teams spent four to five hours pulling victims from the rubble as distressed parents and relatives gathered in the narrow streets around the school. Emergency services deployed 16 ambulances, two disaster response vehicles and more than 60 personnel, according to officials cited by Pakistan Today. The Associated Press (AP) reported that nearly 100 rescuers eventually joined the operation.

Rescue 1122 spokesperson Bilal Faizi told the media that emergency services were alerted at 8.48am, after lessons had begun. He said the roof of an upper-floor classroom gave way, causing structures below it to collapse and trapping children under the debris.

Peshawar Deputy Commissioner Afaq Wazir later confirmed that the rescue operation had concluded, with all trapped people recovered and the debris cleared.

Police cite weak structure as owner is arrested

More than 110 students were attending classes in the three-storey building when the collapse occurred, according to Peshawar Capital City Police Officer Mian Saeed. He said pupils were spread across three classrooms, with around 30 on the top floor, 40 on the middle floor and 45 on the ground floor.

“It was a weak building structure,” Saeed told Reuters. “Its roof was overloaded with construction on a weak structure, which caused the collapse.”

Police said the school owner had been arrested and an investigation launched. An investigating officer cited by Geo News said substandard construction materials had been used in the building. The roof reportedly incorporated T-iron beams and planks.

The school owner, Khan Muhammad, attributed the collapse to several days of rainfall, He said the school had been built about a year and a half earlier and that he had visited the affected classroom on the morning of the incident.

Muhammad said he had called teachers and begun evacuating children after the collapse. He estimated that about 30 children had been in the affected classroom and said the school had 350 enrolled students.

However, the police chief said 110 to 115 pupils had been present across the building. Authorities have not yet established a final cause for the collapse.

Government orders investigation and school safety audit

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi ordered a detailed investigation and directed authorities to examine the circumstances surrounding the collapse, including who had issued the school its no-objection certificate, or NOC.

“The first step will be to determine who issued the no-objection certificate to the school,” Kundi said, according to Pakistan Today.

The governor also ordered a structural safety audit of educational institutions across the province to identify potential risks and ensure corrective measures were taken. He said those found responsible would face action.

The provincial Elementary and Secondary Education Department established a fact-finding committee to investigate the collapse and was instructed to submit a report on Thursday. The committee included Javid Iqbal, chairman of the Private Schools Regulatory Authority, and Muhammad Farooq, deputy secretary of the education department, with another member to be appointed by the committee.

Its remit included establishing the facts, identifying factors that contributed to the collapse, recommending measures to prevent similar incidents and proposing further action.

Kundi announced compensation of 1 million Pakistani rupees for each family of those killed and 200,000 rupees for each injured person.

The provincial police chief, Zulfiqar Hameed, directed the Peshawar police chief to oversee the response and instructed traffic police to establish a dedicated corridor for ambulances. Rescue and police teams were told to use all available resources.

National leaders express condolences

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took what Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar described as “serious notice” of the incident. Dar said the loss of children was a tragedy for the entire country and called for immediate assistance to affected families, medical care for the injured and stronger school safety standards.

Sharif telephoned Governor Kundi to express condolences and requested a comprehensive report. He directed authorities to provide the injured with the best possible medical care and ensure that affected families received assistance. Kundi briefed him on the collapse, the school owner’s arrest and the investigation.

President Asif Ali Zardari also expressed “profound shock and grief”, urging authorities to investigate the cause and ensure that buildings used by educational institutions complied with safety standards.

“The entire nation shares equally in the grief of the affected families,” Zardari said in a statement.

The governor attended funeral prayers for the victims and called for a transparent investigation.

UNICEF calls for urgent action on school safety

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) expressed deep sadness over the collapse, saying at least 28 children and one teacher had been reported killed, while more than 50 children were injured. The agency said most of the children killed were under 14.

UNICEF extended its condolences to the bereaved families and affected communities and wished the injured children a swift and full recovery. It also said it was ready to support the government’s response by providing psychosocial support to affected children, families and communities.

The agency called for urgent action to ensure that all public and private schools comply with building safety standards and undergo regular inspections, with strict enforcement to prevent similar incidents.

“Every child has the right to learn in a safe environment, where children can learn, grow and thrive, protected from harm,” UNICEF said. “Going to school should never put a child’s life at risk.”

Families demand accountability as funerals are held

Relatives accused the school administration of ignoring concerns about the building’s condition and demanded that those responsible be held accountable.

“Make an example of them, a lesson for all, so that no one dares open a school just to make money without providing facilities,” Mohammad Zaman, who lost two nephews in the collapse, told Reuters.

Residents gathered at Rehman Baba cemetery for mass funeral prayers as announcements from mosque loudspeakers urged people to join the prayers. Most of the children killed lived in Dir Colony, leaving neighbours unsure which bereaved families to visit first to offer condolences, AP reported.

Mahwish Zaman, an injured teacher, told AP from her hospital bed that the school had an estimated 1,200 pupils enrolled from nursery through fifth grade. She said she had been in her classroom when the roof collapsed and felt as though the sky had fallen. She later regained consciousness in hospital.

Jawad Ahmad, whose son and daughter attended the school and survived, told Reuters that he was devastated when he heard about the collapse.

“It felt as if someone had shot me in the chest when I learned that the school building had collapsed,” he said.

Collapse renews concerns over building safety

The collapse has renewed concerns about school safety in Pakistan, where substandard construction and weak enforcement of regulations have contributed to deadly incidents.

Pakistan spends less than 1% of its nearly $450 billion GDP on education, according to Reuters. In June, a roof collapse at a Lahore tutoring centre killed 14 children, while a fire at an Islamabad neonatal unit in August killed 14 newborns. An inquiry found the facility lacked fire alarms and sprinklers.

The incident also comes amid tensions between federal and provincial authorities. President Asif Ali Zardari declared a state of emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday, citing the provincial government’s handling of Islamist militancy originating in neighbouring Afghanistan. The provincial government denied the allegation.

Investigators are examining whether construction defects, poor maintenance or regulatory failures contributed to the school collapse.