Islamabad, Oct 15. (dpa/GNA) – The roof of a school collapsed in north-western Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least 34 children and a teacher and wounding more than 50 others, police and rescue officials said.
Children aged between seven and 12 had just started their classes in the city of Peshawar when the roof collapsed, rescue official Bilal Faizi said.
Several children were buried under the rubble. It took dozens of rescuers, backed by machinery, several hours to retrieve the bodies and pull the injured out, Faizi said.
Local media reported more than 100 children were present at the school at the time of collapse. The school was located in a crowded neighbourhood and narrow streets made the rescue operation difficult, Faizi said.
At least 35 bodies and 53 injured children were brought to the city’s main Ready Leading Hospital, hospital spokesman Mohamed Asim said.
Six girls, a female teacher and 28 boys were among the dead, Asim said. Several children were hit by the steel rods and were in a critical condition, he added, fearing the death toll might rise.
Television footage shows parents running in the street in panic and ambulances rushing children to the hospitals. It was not immediately known what caused the roof to give way, but local police official Mian Saeed said an inquiry had been ordered to determine the cause of the collapse.
Police have arrested the school’s owner who faces multiple charges including murder, Saeed said. A distraught father who lost his two children told Pakistani television channels he was heartbroken and devastated. “My family will never recover from this disaster. Life will never be the same for me,” the young father said, as he struggled to hold back tears.
GNA