At least 14 schoolchildren were killed and eight others injured after the roof of an under-construction tutoring centre collapsed in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore on Tuesday, according to police and rescue officials.
Senior police official Faisal Kamran said the injured children were receiving treatment at a hospital. He added that the owner of the tutoring centre and another individual had been arrested following the incident.
Rescue workers continued searching through the debris amid fears that more children could be trapped beneath the rubble. Preliminary findings suggest the tutoring centre was operating in an old building, where the roof of an unfinished second floor apparently gave way due to poor construction.
Building collapses are a recurring problem in Pakistan, largely because of weak enforcement of construction regulations. Many buildings are constructed using low-quality materials, while safety standards are often overlooked to cut costs.
Emergency responders, assisted by local residents, rushed to the scene shortly after the collapse. Volunteers used shovels and even their bare hands to clear the rubble in a desperate effort to rescue trapped children.
As victims' bodies were returned to their families, scenes of mourning unfolded outside hospitals and in the neighbourhood where the tutoring centre was located. Grieving parents and relatives gathered to receive the bodies, while funeral prayers were expected later in the day.
The tragedy also sparked public anger, with residents demanding strict action against the tutoring centre's owner for allegedly operating classes in what they described as an unsafe and deteriorating building.
Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, has a large number of private tutoring centres attended by students after regular school hours.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed deep sorrow over the incident, offering condolences to the bereaved families and wishing the injured a speedy recovery. They also stressed the need for stronger safety measures to help prevent similar accidents in the future.