The Kabul Tribune (KT) — At least 21 people, including 20 students and a female teacher, were killed Thursday when the roof of a private school collapsed in Peshawar’s Afridi Abad neighborhood, Dawn reported, citing local officials.
Muhammad Asim, a spokesperson for Lady Reading Hospital,
confirmed the death toll in a statement and said an emergency had been declared
at the hospital.
Earlier, Asim said 17 students had been killed, adding that
all the children were 13 or younger. Another 17 injured students were taken to
the hospital, he said.
The roof collapsed while students were in a classroom,
according to a statement from the Peshawar deputy commissioner’s office. Rescue
workers were removing debris and searching for children trapped beneath the
rubble, the statement said.
Rescue 1122 spokesperson Bilal Ahmed Faizi earlier said
rescue personnel had transported about 20 people, including students and
teachers, to hospitals. Citing Lady Reading Hospital, he said four people had
died at that time. A separate statement from the rescue agency said more than
10 children had received first aid and been taken to hospitals, while several
others were feared trapped under the debris.
Building and roof collapses are a recurring problem in
Pakistan, often attributed to inadequate safety standards and substandard
construction materials.
In July, three girls between the ages of 3 and 13 were
killed when part of the outer wall of a government primary school near Umerkot
collapsed on them, Dawn reported.
That month, a child died and at least five other people were
injured when the roof of an under-construction private school building
collapsed in Lahore’s Baghbanpura neighborhood.
In June, 14 children were killed when the roof of a private
tuition center collapsed in Lahore’s Kahna area. The incident occurred less
than two months after four children were killed and 20 people injured in the
collapse of a classroom roof at a private school in Dera Ghazi Khan, Dawn reported.
An investigation found that construction work was underway to extend the
tuition center’s building when the classroom roof collapsed.
Other recent incidents have included the deaths of two men
in Pakpattan last week when their house roof collapsed during heavy rain and a
windstorm.
In June, a laborer was killed and three others were injured
when the roof of a building under construction collapsed in Lalamusa, in Gujrat
district. That month, two people were injured in a house roof collapse in
Lahore’s Nishtar area. In August, a couple was killed and their daughters
injured when the roof of their house in Islamabad’s Shahzad Town collapsed
after three days of heavy rain, Dawn reported.
