PAKISTAN SCHOOL ROOF COLLAPSE KILLS TEACHER, 27 CHILDREN (PHOTOS)
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Agency report
Twenty-seven pupils and a teacher were killed on Thursday after a roof collapsed at a school in Peshawar, northwestern Pakistan, a hospital official said.
Asim Khan of Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital confirmed the death toll to AFP, adding that more than 30 people were injured, six of them believed to be in critical condition.
A spokesman for the emergency rescue service in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province said the children were crushed and trapped when the roof gave way.
“When the Rescue 1122 emergency response teams arrived at the scene, they found that one roof had collapsed onto another, causing the classroom below to be crushed and trapping children inside,” spokesman Bilal Ahmad Faizi said.
“There are concerns that more children may still be trapped beneath the rubble,” he added, noting that 16 ambulances, two disaster response vehicles, and more than 60 personnel had been deployed to the scene.
Images released by emergency services showed rescue workers wearing high-visibility vests clearing debris, rubble, and dirt, while AFP journalists reported seeing dozens of people at the site.
A resident, Sher Ahmed, blamed “substandard construction materials” for the tragedy and called for an 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.
‘Deep sorrow’
Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, expressed “deep sorrow and grief over the loss of precious lives” in a statement.
“The Prime Minister extends his condolences to the bereaved families and prays for them to have the strength and patience to bear this irreparable loss,” the statement said.
President Asif Ali Zardari described the incident as a “heartbreaking tragedy”.
“In this hour of grief, the entire nation shares the sorrow of the affected families,” he said in a statement.
Roof and building collapses are common in Pakistan, often attributed to poor safety standards and substandard construction materials in the South Asian country, which has a population of more than 240 million.
In June, more than a dozen children were killed when a roof collapsed at a tutoring centre in the eastern city of Lahore.
In 2025, 27 people were killed and 10 others injured when a five-storey building collapsed in Lyari, an impoverished area of the southern city of Karachi.
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