Twenty-eight people, including 27 pupils and a teacher, were killed on Thursday after a school roof collapsed in Peshawar, a city in northwestern Pakistan, according to a hospital official.
Gatekeepers News reports that 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 pupils 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 on to 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.
Faizi said 16 ambulances, two disaster response vehicles and more than 60 emergency personnel had been deployed to the scene.
Images released by emergency services showed rescue workers wearing high-visibility vests scrambling to clear debris, rubble and dirt from the collapsed structure. AFP journalists also reported seeing dozens of people gathered at the scene.
A resident, Sher Ahmed, blamed what he described as “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.
Pakistani Leaders Express Condolences
Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, expressed “deep sorrow and grief over the loss of precious lives” in a statement following the incident.
“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 collapse as a “heartbreaking tragedy”.
“In this hour of grief, the entire nation shares the sorrow of the affected families,” he said.
Building and roof collapses are common in Pakistan, a South Asian country with a population of more than 240 million, often attributed to inadequate safety standards and poor-quality construction materials.
In June, more than a dozen children were killed when the roof of a tutoring centre collapsed in the eastern city of Lahore.
In 2025, 27 people died and 10 others were injured when a five-storey building collapsed in Lyari, a low-income neighbourhood in the southern city of Karachi.
