PESHAWAR (PAKISTAN) — At least 28 people, including 20 schoolchildren and a female teacher, were killed on Thursday after the roof of a private school collapsed in the Dir Colony area of Peshawar, Pakistani officials confirmed, with authorities warning that the death toll may climb further as search-and-rescue operations continue.
Lady Reading Hospital declared a medical emergency following the influx of casualties from the disaster site. Hospital spokesperson Mohammad Asim confirmed the fatalities, noting that 17 injured students—all aged 13 or younger—were admitted for urgent medical care. Emergency personnel and local volunteers spent hours sifting through heavy concrete slabs and debris to pull trapped victims from the wreckage.
Building collapses and infrastructural failures remain a persistent safety hazard across Pakistani schools, where lax enforcement of building codes, poorly regulated construction, and the use of substandard materials are widespread. The incident in Peshawar follows a spate of similar structural tragedies in recent months. In early July, three young girls died when a perimeter wall collapsed at a government primary school near Umerkot, while a roof failure at an under-construction private school in Lahore’s Baghbanpura district killed one child and injured five others.
Fatal classroom collapses have raised recurring alarms over student safety across the country. In June, a roof collapse at a private coaching center in Lahore’s Kahna neighborhood claimed the lives of 14 children, which came shortly after an expansion project at a school in Dera Ghazi Khan triggered a cave-in that left four children dead and 20 injured.
