27 children, teacher killed after school roof collapses in Pakistan’s Peshawar
Asim Khan of Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital confirmed the death toll to AFP. A spokesperson for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa emergency rescue service said several children were crushed and trapped when the roof gave way.
Rescue 1122 spokesperson Bilal Ahmad Faizi said emergency teams found that one roof had collapsed onto another, crushing the classroom below and trapping students beneath the debris. He warned that more children could still be buried under the rubble.
Sixteen ambulances, two disaster response vehicles and more than 60 rescue personnel were deployed to the site. Images released by emergency services showed rescuers clearing debris, rubble and dirt, while AFP journalists reported that dozens of people had gathered at the scene.
Local resident Sher Ahmed blamed the tragedy on the use of substandard construction materials and called for a thorough investigation. Expressing grief over the deaths, he urged authorities to take strict action against those found responsible to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Leaders express condolences
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed “deep sorrow and grief over the loss of precious lives” and extended condolences to the bereaved families, according to an official statement.
President Asif Ali Zardari described the incident as a “heartbreaking tragedy”, saying the entire nation shared the grief of the affected families.
Building and roof collapses remain a recurring problem in Pakistan, often attributed to poor safety standards and the use of substandard construction materials.
In June this year, more than a dozen children were killed when the roof of a tutoring centre collapsed in Lahore. In another major incident in 2025, 27 people were killed and 10 injured after a five-storey building collapsed in Karachi’s impoverished Lyari neighbourhood.
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