School Roof Collapse Kills 28 in Pakistan 

Twenty-seven pupils and a teacher were killed on Thursday after a school roof collapsed in Peshawar, northwestern Pakistan, a hospital official said.

Asim Khan of Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital confirmed the death toll to AFP, adding that more than 30 people were injured, including six who were in critical condition.

The incident occurred when one section of the school roof collapsed onto another, crushing the classroom below and trapping pupils under the rubble, according to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa emergency rescue authorities.

Rescue 1122 spokesman Bilal Ahmad Faizi said emergency teams found children trapped inside the collapsed classroom when they arrived at the scene.

He warned that more pupils could still be buried under the debris as rescue operations continued.

“When the Rescue 1122 emergency response teams arrived at the scene, they found that one roof had collapsed on to another, causing the classroom below to be crushed and trapping children inside,” spokesman Bilal Ahmad Faizi said.

“There are concerns that more children may still be trapped beneath the rubble,” he said. 

Sixteen ambulances, two disaster-response vehicles and more than 60 rescue personnel were deployed to the site, he added.

Images released by the emergency service showed rescue workers in high-visibility vests clearing rubble and debris from the collapsed structure.

AFP journalists at the scene saw dozens of people gathered as rescue operations continued.

Resident Sher Ahmed attributed the collapse to what he described as substandard construction materials and called for an investigation into the incident.

He urged authorities to conduct a thorough probe and punish anyone found responsible to prevent similar tragedies.

“With profound grief and sorrow, I urge the authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and take strict action against anyone found responsible so that such tragedies can be prevented in the future,” he said.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a statement  expressed grief over the deaths and offered condolences to the victims’ families.

He said the loss of the children and their teacher was deeply distressing and prayed for strength and patience for the bereaved families.

“The Prime Minister extends his condolences to the bereaved families and prays for them to have the strength and patience to bear this irreparable loss,” the statement said.

President Asif Ali Zardari also described the incident as a heartbreaking tragedy, saying the nation shared the pain of the affected families.

“In this hour of grief, the entire nation shares the sorrow of the affected families,” he said in a statement.

Building and roof collapses are relatively common in Pakistan, often linked to poor safety standards and the use of substandard construction materials.

In June, more than a dozen children were killed when the roof of a tutoring centre collapsed in Lahore.

In 2025, 27 people were killed and 10 others injured after a five-storey building collapsed in Lyari, a low-income area of Karachi.