At least 34 schoolchildren and one teacher were killed on Thursday morning when the roof of a school collapsed during morning classes in Peshawar, police and rescue officials said, prompting widespread grief across the country.
Rescue workers spent hours pulling children from the rubble of the privately run education centre, which is located in a residential area, while panicked parents and relatives gathered outside the building seeking news of their loved ones.
Most of the students killed were under 13. At least 45 people suffered major and minor injuries, said Arif Khattak, regional director of the Rescue Department.
A first-floor classroom structure collapsed onto a ground-floor classroom, with students present in both at the time, resulting in a high number of casualties, according to officials.
The administration of Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), which initially reported four deaths, later said that 33 bodies were brought to the hospital. Two bodies were shifted to Naseerullah Khan Babar Memorial Hospital in the provincial capital, it added.
Among the victims were also three girls, according to the LRH administration. The body of a female teacher was also brought to the hospital following the incident, the LRH administration said.
Peshawar deputy commissioner said that all people trapped beneath the debris have been rescued.
The incident took place at 8:48am local time (0348 GMT) and the rescue operation lasted for four to five hours, Khattak said.
Mahwish Zaman, an injured teacher speaking from a hospital bed, said that the three-story school had an estimated 1,200 students enrolled in nursery through fifth grade. She said that she was in her classroom when the roof collapsed and felt as if the sky had fallen. She regained consciousness in the hospital.
According to witnesses, residents were among the first to reach the school in a congested neighborhood in central Peshawar. Rescue workers arrived within minutes of being alerted, according to accounts from the scene.
A resident, Samiullah Khan, said that he rushed to the school after learning of the collapse and helped rescue three girls. Khan said his son, who attends the school, survived because he had stepped out of his classroom to drink water.
A resident, Mohammad Khan, said rescuers carefully removed debris, trying to reach children and staff feared trapped beneath the collapsed roof. Outside the school and at the state-run Lady Reading Hospital, anguished parents sought information about their children, unsure whether they had survived.
Later, police arrested the owner of the private school. According to the CCPO, the school building had been poorly constructed, which contributed to the tragedy.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Elementary and Secondary Education Department has constituted a three-member fact-finding committee to investigate the roof collapse at a private school in Dir Colony that killed 33 children and injured several others.
The department has directed the committee to investigate the incident at Al-Khair Education System and submit its report by Thursday.
The committee comprises Managing Director of the KP Private Schools Regulatory Authority (KP-PSRA) Javid Iqbal as chairman and Deputy Secretary (Primary) Muhammad Farooq as a member. It will co-opt another member. The committee will determine the circumstances and causes of the collapse, examine possible negligence and structural deficiencies, and recommend measures to prevent similar incidents in future.
Condolences pour in: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has expressed deep sorrow over the roof collapse at a private school in Peshawar.
The prime minister offered prayers for the elevation of the ranks of those who lost their lives in the incident, including innocent children, and extended his condolences to the bereaved families, praying for their strength and patience. He also prayed for the speedy recovery of those injured in the incident and directed the relevant authorities to ensure that they receive the best possible medical treatment.
Meanwhile, KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi has also expressed grief over the death of children in a school roof collapse and has sought a detailed report on the incident and directed the authorities to determine the cause of the collapse.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi expressed grief over the deaths in the school roof collapse and sought a detailed report on the incident. He also directed the authorities to determine the cause of the collapse. “The loss of precious lives of innocent children is an extremely painful tragedy,” he said, according to a statement, extending his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families.
He prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured children and directed the authorities concerned to provide them with the best possible medical facilities.
In another statement on his X account, the KP governor added that he had also directed a structural safety audit of educational institutions across the province to “identify potential risks and ensure that immediate corrective measures are taken wherever necessary”.
Later, Kundi also attended the funeral prayers of the dead
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari also expressed grief over the school roof collapse and called on the administration to accelerate rescue efforts.
He urged officials to immediately retrieve those trapped beneath the debris and ensure effective arrangements for treating the injured brought to LRH.