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ITLE: Peshawar School Collapse: 28 Dead, Owner Arrested | META: The Peshawar school collapse death toll rose to 28, most of them children, as rescue teams cleared the site and police arrested the school’s owner. | IMG: hourly-1433-peshawar-school-collapse-death-toll-28-owner-arrested.webp | CREDIT: Image: DevDiscourse –>
Update (3:30pm): The death toll has risen to 32, according to Dawn’s latest update. Rescue operations have concluded.
The Peshawar school collapse death toll climbed to 28 on Thursday as rescue teams finished clearing the debris at the Al-Khair Education Centre in Dir Colony, and police arrested the school’s owner over the deadly structural failure.
Hospital authorities confirmed that 27 students, all aged 13 or younger, and one female teacher were killed when the roof of the two-storey building gave way during morning classes. Several outlets later reported the toll at 29 with two teachers among the dead, citing hospital officials, and authorities warned the number could still change.
Lady Reading Hospital declared an emergency to handle the rush of casualties. Around 45 injured children were pulled from the rubble, and dozens of wounded, some in critical condition, were under treatment at the hospital by Thursday afternoon.
Rescue 1122 teams, police and local residents worked through the day at the congested Dir Colony site. Narrow streets around the school slowed the arrival of heavy machinery, and volunteers formed human chains to carry the injured to waiting ambulances.
This follows our earlier report on the collapse in Dir Colony, published when the confirmed toll stood at 16 with the rescue operation still under way.
School owner arrested as police blame weak structure
Peshawar police arrested the owner of the private school as investigators began examining how the building failed. Police chief Saeed Ahmed described the structure as weak and said the roof had been overloaded.
“It was a weak building structure,” the police chief said. “Its roof was overweight, with construction on a weak structure that caused the collapse.”
District emergency officer Iftikhar Khan said rescue workers had taken out at least 45 children from the rubble, while government official Bilal Faizi said teams were working to shift bodies and the injured to hospitals. Rescue services official Bilal Ahmed told CNN that heavy overnight rainfall had made the roof of the two-storey building unstable before it gave way.
Deputy Commissioner Afaq Wazir confirmed that the rescue operation had concluded. “Rescue teams have cleared all the debris, and no more injured children are at the scene,” he said.
No formal charges had been announced against the arrested owner by Thursday evening, and there was no immediate comment from the school’s management.
President orders investigation, nation mourns
President Asif Ali Zardari called the incident a “heart-wrenching tragedy” and ordered a comprehensive investigation into the cause of the collapse. His office said the entire nation shared the grief of the affected families.
The provincial government ordered an inquiry into the building’s construction and the school’s fitness certificate. Officials said the probe would determine whether the school had been allowed to operate in an unsafe structure and who approved its construction.
Parents gathered outside Lady Reading Hospital through the day, waiting for news of their children. One parent told reporters he had pulled three girls, all under eight, from the debris himself.
A recurring failure of building safety
The tragedy has renewed anger over Pakistan’s weak enforcement of building standards. Collapses of poorly built structures are a recurring cause of death in the country, where construction rules are often ignored and oversight is patchy.
In July this year, a roof collapse at an under-construction private school building in Lahore’s Baghbanpura neighbourhood killed a child and injured several people. In the same month, part of an outer wall of a government primary school near Umerkot collapsed, killing three girls aged between three and 13. The city has also seen deadly residential collapses, including the Karachi building collapse that triggered a major rescue operation.
Education campaigners have long warned that private schools in congested urban neighbourhoods often operate in converted houses never designed as classrooms. They say Thursday’s deaths should force a province-wide inspection of school buildings, not just an inquiry into one collapse.
Frequently asked questions
How many people died in the Peshawar school collapse?
Hospital authorities confirmed 32 dead, most of them students aged 13 or younger, including at least one female teacher. Some outlets later reported 29 dead, including two teachers.
Where did the collapse happen?
At the Al-Khair Education Centre, a private school in Dir Colony, Peshawar. Around 110 students were in three classrooms when the roof collapsed on Thursday morning.
Has anyone been arrested?
Yes. Peshawar police arrested the school’s owner. The police chief blamed a structurally weak building with an overweight roof.
Has the rescue operation ended?
Yes. Deputy Commissioner Afaq Wazir confirmed rescue teams had cleared all the debris and no more children remained trapped at the scene.
