Home · World · Oct 15 archive
School Roof Collapse in Pakistan Kills 34 Students and a Teacher
Confirmed
In Short: The roof of a school in northwestern Pakistan collapsed on Thursday, killing at least 34 students and a teacher and injuring more than 50 others, according to authorities and hospital officials.
Most of the victims were between six and 12 years old, with the oldest being 14, and the incident occurred at Al-Khair Education Centre, a private school in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The provincial government has formed a committee to investigate the cause of the collapse, which happened around 8:48 a.m. local time, shortly after classes began.
Emergency services spokesperson Bilal Faizi said nearly 100 rescuers, including parents, helped in the operation, pulling out more than 20 children from the rubble.
The school's owner, Mohammad Khan, was arrested and blamed the incident on recent rains weakening the roof, though police said the investigation was ongoing.
Peshawar's police chief, Saeed Ahmed, said the building had substandard roof slabs and was overloaded, leading to the collapse.
Emergency crews cleared debris after rescuers pulled everyone trapped beneath the rubble out, and they noted that the roofs of two classrooms collapsed onto a first-floor classroom.
The incident highlights the urgent need for better building safety standards to protect children, as emphasized by officials and parents alike.
What this adds
The collapse of the school roof in Peshawar is separate from a building collapse in Delhi that killed three people, including a pregnant woman and two children, on Wednesday.
Background
On Wednesday afternoon, a four-storey building in Seemapuri, Delhi, collapsed, resulting in the deaths of three people, including a pregnant woman and two children, and injuring eight others.
What's confirmed
- The roof of a school in northwestern Pakistan has collapsed, killing at least 34 students and a teacher and injuring more than 50 others, authorities and a hospital official said.
- Most of the children killed or injured were between six and 12 years old, and the oldest was 14, he said.
- However, following his arrest, the owner, Mohammad Khan, blamed this week’s rains for weakening one of the roofs, according to police, who said the investigation was still under way.
- The provincial government said a committee had been formed to investigate the cause of the roof collapse of the three-storey building.
- The incident happened on Thursday at Al-Khair Education Centre, a private school in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
- “The entire nation shares the grief of the affected families in this hour of sorrow,” Zardari said.
- More than a dozen children suffered minor injuries, he said.
- Peshawar’s police chief Saeed Ahmed said that the owner of the school has been arrested.
- "We cannot allow the safety of our children to be compromised," he said.
- "We have taken out at least 45 children," said district emergency officer Iftikhar Khan, but added that more children were thought to still be under the rubble.
- Authorities have arrested the school's owner and launched an investigation.
- ISLAMABAD — At least 27 students, most younger than 13, were killed in Pakistan on Thursday, along with a teacher, when a school roof collapsed during classes in the northwestern city of Peshawar, authorities said, warning that the death toll could rise.
What's still developing
- He credited the rapid evacuation with saving at least 40 lives.
- At least 33 pupils and a teacher have been killed after a school roof collapsed in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar, according to hospital officials.
- "It was a weak building structure," said Peshawar's police chief, adding that excessive rooftop construction triggered the disaster.
- Lady Reading Hospital spokesperson Muhammad Asim said all of the deceased children were aged 13 or younger.
- A car bombing at a police post, followed by an intense firefight, has killed at least 21 officers in northwestern Pakistan, according to police and security sources.
- The school is located in a building that had been constructed on a temporary basis, according to emergency official Arif Khattak.
- According to officials, those killed included a 21-year-old pregnant woman identified as Gulafsa, a young girl, and another child.
- DCP Rajendra Prasad Meena said one of the children was decapitated in the collapse. #BREAKING A building collapsed near Eidgah Fish Market in New Seemapuri, Delhi.
- At least 19 people were killed and more than 25 injured when a damaged building where displaced Palestinian families were residing in Gaza city collapsed on Wednesday.