School roof collapse kills at least 29, injures more than 3 dozen in Pak…

Rescue operations concluded on Thursday evening at Al Khair School in Peshawar, Pakistan, after emergency crews pulled the final trapped victims from the wreckage of a collapsed three-story roof that left at least 29 people dead, including 28 children and a female teacher.

More than 50 other people sustained injuries in the disaster at the private institution, located in the Afridi Abad and Dir Colony neighborhoods of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial capital. Lady Reading Hospital declared an emergency to handle the influx of casualties, with hospital spokesman Mohammad Asim confirming that all the children killed or injured were age 13 or younger, and six of the dead were girls. Several of pilgrim wounded arrived in critical condition.

Search Operations and Hospital Emergency Response

Emergency responders, local residents, and volunteers rushed to the congested neighborhood following the collapse on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for the emergency services, reported that children remained trapped under the debris as teams cleared away fallen masonry.

Hours after the initial collapse, rescue officials announced that everyone trapped beneath the rubble had been pulled out and crews transitioned to clearing the debris. Witnesses described how residents were among the first to reach the school. Samiullah Khan, a local resident, stated that he rushed to the school after learning of the collapse and helped rescue three girls, adding that his own son survived because he had stepped out of his classroom to drink water. Another resident, Mohammad Khan, said rescuers carefully removed debris while anguished parents sought information about their children outside the school and at the state-run Lady Reading Hospital.

Injured teacher Mahwish Zaman recounted from her hospital bed that she was inside her classroom when the roof gave way, feeling as though the sky had fallen before she lost consciousness. She noted that the three-story school had an estimated 1,200 students enrolled in nursery through fifth grade.

Arrest of School Owner and Structural Findings

Investigators moved swiftly following the tragedy, placing the school owner under arrest. Peshawar police chief Saeed Ahmed stated that the building was structurally weak.

The provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa formed a committee to investigate the cause of the roof collapse. Provincial government spokeswoman Samar Haroon Bilour praised rescue workers for their swift response and said the government was using all available resources to bring those trapped beneath the rubble to safety. The disaster adds to a grim sequence of recent building failures across Pakistan, including an incident in July where a roof collapsed at a tutoring center under construction in Lahore, killing four schoolchildren.

Official Condolences and National Safety Concerns

National leaders offered public statements of grief as the scale of the tragedy became clear. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed sorrow and extended condolences to the bereaved families in separate statements.

The entire nation shares the grief of the affected families in this hour of sorrow.

President Asif Ali Zardari via NPR

President Zardari called for a comprehensive investigation and stressed the need to ensure school buildings meet safety standards to prevent similar tragedies. Governor Faisal Karim Kundi also expressed sorrow over the deaths and sought a detailed report on the incident from relevant authorities, directing them to provide the best possible medical care to the injured children alongside provincial spokeswoman Bilour.