Tragic school roof collapse in Pakistan claims lives of 27 students
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, reports BritPanorama.
Television images showed ambulances rushing to the site at the privately run Al-Khair Education Center while rescuers pulled bloodied students from the rubble.
“We have taken out at least 45 children,” said district emergency officer Iftikhar Khan, adding that more were reported to be buried in the rubble.
Rescue teams were working to extricate bodies and take the injured to hospital, said government official Bilal Faizi.
Twenty injured and most of the dead were brought to the city’s Lady Reading Hospital, its spokesperson, Mohammad Asim, said.
A rescue official noted that the ceiling collapsed on the students after the roof of a higher floor gave way, crumpling the two stories.
Authorities announced an investigation to determine the cause of the incident.
Peshawar police chief Mian Saeed expressed concern that the death toll could increase as only 47 of the 110 students in three classrooms at the time had been rescued. “It was a weak building structure,” Saeed added. “Its roof was overweight with construction on a weak structure that caused the collapse.”
There was no immediate comment from school officials.
