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Emergency services reached the Al-Khair Education Center in Peshawar’s Dir Colony shortly after 08:48 local time on Thursday once lessons were underway, only to find that the roof of an upper classroom had given way and caused ceilings on lower levels to cave in, according to rescue officials. Police said about 110 students had been inside the three affected classrooms at the time, with roughly 47 pulled alive from the wreckage while others remained buried. The privately run facility occupied a building constructed on a temporary basis using prefabricated roofing slabs rather than reinforced concrete, emergency personnel told reporters at the scene.
Hospital spokespeople updated the casualty count through the day, with Lady Reading Hospital reporting 32 children and one female teacher among the dead while another facility confirmed an additional child victim, producing a confirmed toll of at least 33. Most of the pupils were aged between seven and 14, and more than a dozen others sustained injuries, some critical with severe head trauma, a hospital assessment found. Rescue coordinator Bilal Faizi described how the falling upper floor had crushed the classrooms beneath, leaving many of the young victims trapped under heavy debris.
Peshawar police chief Dr Mian Saeed Ahmed stated that the building’s structure was weak, with an overweight roof added to an inadequate frame, and officers arrested the school owner as part of an immediate investigation into possible building code violations. “This is a case of gross negligence,” the police chief told media outlets, adding that authorities would examine all aspects of the construction and maintenance. The provincial government has ordered a full inquiry, with officials warning the site remains unstable and could face further partial collapses.
National leaders expressed condolences as news of the disaster spread, with President Asif Ali Zardari describing it as a “heart-wrenching tragedy” that demands a comprehensive probe into the causes. Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar posted on X that “our children are our most precious asset, and every such loss is a tragedy for the entire country,” while urging rescuers to accelerate efforts to locate any remaining survivors. The reactions came as ambulances continued ferrying victims to Lady Reading Hospital, which had declared an emergency to treat the influx of wounded children.
A timeline compiled by Dawn shows the Peshawar collapse forms part of a recurring pattern, with at least four similar incidents at educational sites across Pakistan since the start of 2026 alone. In June a tuition centre roof in Lahore killed 14 children, followed days later by another under-construction school in the same city that claimed a child’s life and injured five more people, the newspaper reported. Earlier events in Karachi and other locations have repeatedly highlighted risks tied to substandard buildings used by private operators.
Nearly half of all students in Pakistan attend private schools, many of which operate in structures not built to modern safety standards, according to education sector observers. The latest tragedy has renewed questions about regulatory oversight, especially after heavy overnight rainfall that local rescue services linked to the instability preceding the collapse. Congestion around the school further slowed heavy equipment access, forcing teams and nearby residents to remove rubble manually with buckets and basic tools.
Officials at the scene continued shifting bodies and treating the injured late into the day, with some of the 20 children initially taken to Lady Reading Hospital later discharged after receiving care for lesser wounds. Three others with serious head injuries remained under close observation, hospital spokesperson Mohammad Asim said. The combined toll and the pattern of prior collapses have prompted calls for stricter enforcement of construction rules at educational facilities nationwide.
