School roof collapse kills at least 28, injures more than 3 dozen in Pakistan
Summary
A private school roof collapsed in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Thursday, killing 27 children and a female teacher and injuring more than three dozen people. Several children remained trapped as residents and rescuers searched the rubble. The hospital treated the wounded, some of whom were in critical condition, while the collapse’s cause was investigated.
Key Facts
- All the children killed or injured were 13 or younger, according to hospital spokesman Mohammad Asim.
- Peshawar police chief Saeed Ahmed said the school owner had been arrested and that the building was structurally weak.
- The hospital declared an emergency as medical staff treated the injured.
- A roof collapse at a tutoring center under construction in Lahore in July killed four schoolchildren.
- Building collapses are common in Pakistan, where construction standards are often poorly enforced and substandard materials are frequently used.
A rescue worker carries an injured child after rescuing him from the rubble of a roof collapse at a private school in Peshawar, Pakistan, Oct. 15. AP-Yonhap
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — The roof of a private school collapsed in northwestern Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least 27 children and a female teacher and injuring more than three dozen other people, a hospital spokesman said, as rescuers searched the rubble for anyone still trapped.
Several children remained trapped under the rubble in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for the emergency services.
A hospital spokesman, Mohammad Asim, also confirmed the casualties, saying some of the injured were in critical condition. All the children killed or injured were age 13 or younger, he said. The hospital declared an emergency as medical staff treated the wounded. Rescuers said that they were removing debris to reach those trapped.
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, 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.
Rescue workers carry the body of a boy killed in the collapse of a private school roof in Dir Colony, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, Oct. 15. EPA-Yonhap
The cause of the collapse was under investigation. Peshawar police chief Saeed Ahmed said that the school's owner had been arrested. He said that the building was structurally weak.
In July, a roof collapsed at a tutoring center under construction in Lahore, killing four schoolchildren.
Building collapses are common in Pakistan , where construction standards are often poorly enforced. Many structures are built with substandard materials, and safety regulations are frequently ignored to reduce costs.
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