At least 29 people, mostly children, died when a Peshawar school roof collapsed Thursday. The owner was arrested.
PESHAWAR, Pakistan – At least 29 people, most of them children, were killed Thursday when the roof of a private school collapsed in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, hospital officials said. Muhammad Asim, a spokesperson for Lady Reading Hospital, said the victims included students and a female teacher, and that all the children were aged 13 or younger. Several children were feared trapped under the rubble, and officials warned the toll could rise.
Rescue officials said emergency services were alerted to the collapse at the Al-Khair school in the Dir Colony neighborhood at 8:48 a.m., after lessons had begun. Rescue official Bilal Faizi told the BBC that the roof of a first-floor classroom fell onto a ground-floor classroom, causing its ceiling to cave in as well. Emergency official Arif Khattak said the school was housed in a building constructed on a temporary basis, and that the affected classrooms were in a two-story section that did not appear to have a conventional reinforced concrete roof but prefabricated roofing slabs. The school sits on a narrow street where only one vehicle can pass at a time, which slowed rescuers, and heavy machinery could not reach the site. Al Jazeera reported that residents and rescue teams used buckets and utensils to clear the debris.
The death toll varied as officials updated their counts. Early reports cited 17 children and a teacher, the BBC reported 27 pupils and a teacher, Al Jazeera and CBS News said at least 29, and Daily Times reported 30. Dozens of people were taken to Lady Reading Hospital, where an emergency was declared and some patients were in critical condition. Al Jazeera reported the school has about 350 registered students.
The city’s police chief confirmed that the school’s owner has been arrested, according to the BBC. Authorities ordered an investigation into the cause, and Daily Times reported that a committee will examine structural integrity and whether building code violations contributed. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi ordered a safety audit of all schools in the province. A witness told CBS News the building appeared unsuitable for use as a school. Officials have not announced a cause.
The collapse follows other deadly building failures in Pakistan this year. Four months ago, 14 children died when the roof of a private tuition center near Lahore collapsed. In August, 14 newborns died in a fire at a neonatal unit at a hospital in Islamabad, which an inquiry found lacked fire alarms and sprinklers, the BBC reported.
This report draws on information from BBC News, Al Jazeera, CBS News, The Express Tribune and Daily Times.