34 children, one teacher: the Peshawar school roof that gave way
Police said the private school's owner had been arrested as rescuers searched the wreckage. Provincial authorities ordered an investigation and a school safety audit, with the cause still unconfirmed.
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by Sami Haddad
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A school roof collapse in Peshawar killed at least 34 children and a female teacher, according to the latest official figures reported by Geo TV, prompting a province-wide safety audit.
The roof fell at the private Al-Khair school in Dir Colony on Thursday, October 15, after lessons had begun. Emergency services received the alert at 08:48 local time. Most of the children who died were younger than 13, according to Geo TV.
Police said the school owner had been arrested. The governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the province containing Peshawar, ordered a safety audit of all schools, while the provincial education secretary demanded a report from the Private Schools Regulatory Authority by the following day.
The disaster leaves authorities with two urgent tasks: establish what brought down these classrooms and identify other school buildings that could put children at risk. An arrest begins a criminal inquiry. It does not answer the engineering or inspection questions.
The casualty count was still changing as rescue work continued. Earlier accounts put the death toll at least 29, or at least 27 pupils and a teacher. The hospital-by-hospital breakdown of the deaths has not been settled.
Injury reports ranged from more than a dozen to more than 40, with Lady Reading Hospital reporting 20 injured children, according to Geo TV. Some survivors were reported to be in critical condition. Neither a final casualty total nor a confirmed cause has been established.
