The death toll from the collapse of a private school roof in Peshawar on Thursday, October 15, has risen to at least 21. Lady Reading Hospital spokesperson Muhammad Asim told Dawn that 20 students and a female teacher were killed. The students, 18 boys and two girls, were aged between seven and twelve.
The spokesperson said 21 injured people had been brought to the hospital, five of them in critical condition, and an emergency had been declared. Geo News, citing the hospital administration, reported that the bodies of 21 children and a female teacher had been brought in, while The Express Tribune reported at least 20 children and a teacher killed and more than 30 injured. Figures from different outlets vary slightly and may change as rescue work continues.
Rescue 1122 had initially reported four deaths and about 20 injuries, citing the hospital, before the hospital confirmed 17 student deaths and then a higher toll.
Peshawar Deputy Commissioner Afaq Wazir told Dawn that the roof of Al Khair School collapsed while students were in their classrooms, trapping them under the debris. Rescue 1122 ambulances and disaster vehicles reached the site, and Pakistan Army personnel are helping other agencies recover children and staff from the rubble.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed deep grief and directed that the injured receive the best possible treatment and that rescue work be expedited. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi sought a detailed report and ordered authorities to determine the cause of the collapse, calling the loss of children's lives an extremely painful tragedy.
Roof and building collapses are common in Pakistan because of poor construction standards. Dawn noted that 14 children were killed in June when the roof of a private tuition centre collapsed in Lahore's Kahna area, and three girls died in July when a wall of a government primary school near Umerkot fell. No official cause has yet been given for the Peshawar collapse.