Peshawar school roof collapse kills at least 34 children and a teacher

Associated Press and Al Jazeera said the collapse of a school roof in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Thursday, October 15, claimed the lives of no fewer than 34 pupils and one teacher. The collapse brought down classrooms below the roof, while residents and emergency crews worked to recover children from the debris.¹²⁴

Different casualty counts

AP identified the site as Al-Khair school and reported more than 50 injuries. Al Jazeera put the number injured at more than 45, with some in critical condition. The BBC reported at least 33 pupils and a teacher killed, alongside more than a dozen injured.¹²⁴

Other accounts gave lower death tolls. The New York Times reported at least 20 children and a teacher killed, while an earlier Radio Pakistan account reported 21 children dead and more than 40 people injured in Dir Colony. Radio Pakistan said a spokesperson for Rescue 1122 was the source of its early details about the rescue.³⁵

Al Jazeera said the majority of the child casualties were between six and 12 years old, with the eldest aged 14. Its report said the dead included 12 girls and a female teacher. Lady Reading Hospital declared an emergency as medical staff treated the wounded, the outlet reported.²

Classrooms brought down

Emergency services were notified at 08:48 local time, or 03:48 GMT, after lessons had started, the BBC reported. Its account described an upper-floor classroom roof giving way, with debris breaking through the ceilings beneath it. Peshawar police chief Mian Saeed confirmed that classrooms across three floors had collapsed.¹

According to the BBC, approximately 30 pupils were in the highest classroom, 40 in the middle classroom and 45 on the ground floor. The broadcaster also reported that pupils heard a cracking noise shortly before the collapse. Rescue official Arif Khattak said the building had been erected as a temporary structure.¹

AP cited eyewitness accounts of residents helping pull children from the rubble. Al Jazeera reported that nearly 100 rescuers, including parents, took part and that everyone trapped had been recovered. The BBC's account said several children were feared trapped, reflecting a different reported stage of the rescue.¹²⁴

Investigation into the building

The BBC reported that Saeed described the roof slabs as “substandard” and the structure as “overloaded”. Al Jazeera described construction using steel girders, mud bricks and some wooden beams. School owner Mohammad Khan blamed rain during the week for weakening a roof, according to Al Jazeera; that account remains his explanation.¹²

Al Jazeera reported Khan's arrest and the formation of a provincial committee to investigate the collapse. Pakistan's prime minister urged rescuers to accelerate the search for survivors, according to The New York Times. Radio Pakistan said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor directed that medical treatment be provided and the cause investigated.²³⁵