In brief
A roof collapse at the Al‑Khair private school in Dir Colony, Peshawar, left 33 pupils and a teacher dead, with many injured. The building, described as a temporary structure with overloaded slabs, gave way at 08:48 after lessons began, sending debris down through lower classrooms. Rescue teams fought to access the site through a narrow street, while local volunteers pulled several survivors out of the rubble. Police chief Mian Saeed declared gross negligence, and provincial authorities ordered a safety audit of all schools in the region.
At least 33 children and a teacher died when the roof of the Al‑Khair private school in Dir Colony collapsed after lessons began at 08:48 GMT. Rescue teams faced a narrow street that allowed only one vehicle at a time to reach the building, complicating the disaster response.
The collapsed structure was described by officials as a temporary construction with substandard roof slabs that were overloaded. The impact caused ceilings in lower floors to cave in, trapping several children under the rubble, with some in critical condition.
Local volunteers, including an English teacher and other residents, immediately rushed to the scene. They pulled out more than 20 children and a teacher; many of them later succumbed to injuries.
Peshawar police chief Mian Saeed called the incident a case of gross negligence and announced an inquiry into building code violations. He confirmed that the school’s owner had been arrested and stressed that the building was still extremely dangerous.
The provincial governor ordered a safety audit of all schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, citing the need to identify risks and enforce corrective measures. This tragedy follows previous incidents in Pakistan, including a 2024 collapse at a private tuition centre near Lahore that killed fourteen children and a 2024 hospital fire in Islamabad that claimed fourteen newborn babies.
