A school roof collapse in Peshawar, northwestern Pakistan, has killed a teacher and 32 pupils, mostly children aged below 14, as rescuers and residents rushed to pull survivors from the debris.
Health officials said on Thursday that 20 other pupils were taken to hospital following the incident, which authorities attributed to weak infrastructure.
Residents described scenes of panic as children became trapped beneath the rubble in the densely populated neighbourhood.
Sohail, a resident whose niece escaped from the building and returned home to report the incident, told AFP that people began screaming in fear when they learnt of the collapse.
“When I arrived at the scene, I saw around 10 to 15 children trapped beneath the rubble, with debris piled up to their necks. We quickly pulled them out,” he said.
Asim Khan of Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital confirmed that the death toll had risen to 33 by Thursday evening, with most of the victims aged between four and 14.
“A total of 20 injured children were brought to the hospital, most of whom have been discharged. Three severely injured children, who sustained head injuries, have been admitted to the hospital,” Khan said.
He added that the casualties included 12 girls and a female teacher.
Bilal Ahmad Faizi, a spokesman for the emergency rescue service in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said children were crushed and trapped when the roof gave way.
According to him, rescue teams discovered that one roof had collapsed onto another, causing the classroom beneath it to cave in and trapping the pupils inside.
Photographs released by emergency services showed rescue workers wearing high-visibility vests clearing debris, rubble and dirt in an effort to reach those trapped.
A senior official in Peshawar told AFP that preliminary findings pointed to weak infrastructure as the likely cause of the collapse.
The official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media, disclosed that the school owner had been detained.
At the hospital, bodies wrapped in white cloth were seen being brought out as volunteers arrived to assist with identifying the victims.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, expressed deep sorrow over the loss of lives and extended his condolences to the bereaved families.
“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,” a statement from his office said.
President Asif Ali Zardari also described the incident as a “heartbreaking tragedy”.
A resident, Sher Ahmed, blamed the use of substandard construction materials for the disaster and called for a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the collapse.
“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.
Building and roof collapses remain a recurring problem in Pakistan, a South Asian country with a population of more than 240 million, where poor safety standards and the use of substandard construction materials have contributed to deadly incidents.
In June, more than a dozen children were killed when a roof collapsed at a tutoring centre in Lahore, in eastern Pakistan.
In 2025, a five-storey building collapsed in the impoverished Lyari neighbourhood of Karachi, killing 27 people and injuring 10 others.
