Authorities in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province have ordered safety inspections of all private schools after a roof collapse killed 34 children and a teacher, as relatives of victims said they had previously warned about the building’s poor condition.
The provincial government has launched an investigation into Thursday’s collapse at Al-Khair School, while grieving families are demanding justice. At least one relative said he had warned the school owner about repeated water leaks.
Police arrested the school’s owner, Mohammad Khan, on Thursday. Peshawar Police Chief Saeed Ahmed said the building was structurally weak and Khan told officers that recent rainfall had weakened one of its roofs.
An order reviewed by The Associated Press directs the provincial education department to form district committees to inspect private school buildings and submit findings and recommendations within three days.
The inspections will cover both owned and rented premises, examining roofs, ceilings, walls, columns, beams, foundations and staircases. District authorities must arrange urgent technical assessments and classify buildings as safe, requiring repairs or improvements, or potentially unsafe.
On Friday, government spokesperson Samar Haroon Bilour expressed grief over the deaths and injuries. In a video message, she urged parents to report schools operating in structurally weak buildings, saying the government was also conducting inspections to prevent similar tragedies.
Survivors and families recount the tragedy
Emergency teams arrived within five minutes of receiving the alert, and all those trapped beneath the rubble had been recovered by the end of Thursday’s rescue operation. At least 40 children were pulled alive from the debris, said Bilal Faizi, a spokesperson for Peshawar’s emergency services.
The collapsed roof was a traditional structure made of mud and bricks. Some children trapped underneath died from suffocation, Faizi said.
Injured teacher Mahwish Zaman, speaking from her hospital bed, said the collapse happened so suddenly that nobody had time to escape. She was teaching when she heard a loud crash from the floor above. Before she could tell her students to run to safety, the ceiling collapsed. She lost consciousness and later learned that many of her students had died.
Residents visited grieving families, many of whom lived in Dir Colony, the Peshawar neighbourhood where the school is located.
Mohammad Zaman, 36, whose two nephews died, said he and other relatives had repeatedly complained to the owner about rainwater leaking into classrooms. He said he had warned that the building’s condition could result in a tragedy.
His nine-year-old nephew, Abdul, was in second grade, while 10-year-old Abuzar was in third grade. Their sister, Samiya, a nursery student at the school, survived because she had gone outside to buy sweets.
Another relative, Zakir Ullah, lost both his sons, Abu Bakr and Mohammad, who were in the same classroom. His daughter, who was in another class, ran home after the collapse to tell the family that the school had fallen. They rushed back with her and found the boys’ classroom buried beneath the rubble, he said.
Ullah said nothing was visible beneath the debris. Describing the building as weak, he demanded punishment for any officials who had authorised its use as a school.
“How could I have known this would take both my sons away from me,” he said.