Peshawar School Roof Collapse Kills At Least 35, Mostly Students; Rescue Operation Ends

PESHAWAR: At least 35 people, including 34 students and a female teacher, were killed on Thursday when the roof of a private school collapsed in Peshawar's Dir Colony area, hospital officials said. More than 40 others were injured, and officials said the toll rose through the day as rescuers pulled more victims from the debris.

Lady Reading Hospital spokesperson Muhammad Asim told reporters the death toll had risen to 35, revising an earlier figure of 29. The students who died were aged between seven and 14, and an emergency had been declared at the hospital, where the injured were being treated, some of them in critical condition.

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Rescue operation ends

Peshawar Deputy Commissioner Afaq Wazir told reporters the rescue operation had concluded, saying teams had cleared all the debris and no more injured children remained at the site. Rescue officials had earlier said several children were feared trapped under the rubble, and narrow streets around the school slowed the rescue effort.

What happened

Local media identified the school as the Al-Khair School System in Dir Colony. Rescue officials said emergency services were alerted at 8:48 in the morning, after lessons had begun. A rescue official said the roof of an upper floor classroom collapsed onto the classroom below, bringing down the two storeys beneath it. Students were in their classrooms when the building came down.

Capital City Police Officer Dr Mian Saeed said the school owner had been taken into custody and that a case would be registered. He said the roof appeared to have been poorly constructed, with new construction added on a weak structure, and that rain had damaged the building before it collapsed. Police said about 110 children were enrolled at the school.

Official response

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed deep grief over the loss of life and directed authorities to ensure the best possible medical treatment for the injured. President Asif Ali Zardari ordered a full investigation into the causes of the collapse and directed that safety standards of school buildings be reviewed to prevent similar tragedies. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa officials sought reports on the incident, and the provincial education secretary directed the Private Schools Regulatory Authority to submit its findings.

A pattern of structural failures

The collapse follows a series of deadly structural failures at educational buildings in Pakistan this year. In February, a shed collapse at a government girls school in Sialkot killed a student. In May, four students died when a classroom roof collapsed at a private school in Dera Ghazi Khan. In June, 14 children were killed when the roof of a tuition centre collapsed in Lahore's Kahna area. The Peshawar tragedy also comes weeks after a fire at a hospital nursery in Islamabad killed at least 14 newborns, which had already raised questions about safety enforcement in public buildings.

With the rescue operation now over, the focus shifts to the investigation into how the school was built and who was responsible for checking it. What the inquiry finds will decide whether this becomes another entry in that list or the case that forces change.

Sources: WE News English; Islamabad Post; Lady Reading Hospital spokesperson Muhammad Asim; Rescue 1122; CCPO Peshawar Dr Mian Saeed; Peshawar Deputy Commissioner Afaq Wazir; Aurax News; Daily Great Balochistan.