A school roof collapsed during morning lessons in Peshawar on Thursday, killing at least 33 pupils and a teacher, according to hospital officials cited by BBC News. The Guardian and Al Jazeera report that at least 34 children and a teacher died.
Emergency services were called to the private Al-Khair school in Dir Colony at 08:48 (03:48 GMT), rescue official Bilal Faizi told BBC News. An upper-floor classroom roof collapsed and brought down the ceilings below, trapping children. Police chief Mian Saeed later confirmed that classrooms on three floors were brought down, after earlier reports suggested a two-storey part of the building, the BBC reported.
The BBC reported that Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar recorded the deaths of 32 children and a teacher, and Naseerullah Khan Babar Memorial Hospital the death of one child, with more than a dozen others injured, some critically.
The Guardian reported that most of the victims were under 13 and from low-income households, and, citing Arif Khattak, regional director of emergency services, that at least 45 children were injured. Lady Reading Hospital spokesperson Mohammad Asim said in the paper’s report that the dead included 12 schoolgirls and the female teacher, that three children remained critical with head injuries, and that most of the injured had been treated and discharged.
The BBC reported that the school stood on a very narrow street, which made it hard for rescuers to reach, and that an English teacher from a nearby school said he and other residents had pulled more than 20 children from the rubble after hearing sirens. The rescue lasted four to five hours, according to the Guardian.
What Police Say Caused the Collapse
Mr Saeed said there were about 30 pupils in the top class, 40 in the middle and 45 on the ground floor, and that the structure had “substandard” roof slabs and was “overloaded”, the BBC reported. “It was a weak building structure,” he said, according to the Guardian. “Its roof was overloaded with construction on a weak structure, which caused the collapse.”
Mr Khattak said the building had been constructed on a temporary basis, the BBC reported. According to Al Jazeera, the Peshawar police chief said the owner had told officers that recent rains weakened the structure. The owner was arrested and an investigation launched, the BBC and the Guardian reported.
In June, 14 children died when the roof of a private tuition centre near Lahore collapsed, and in August, 14 newborn babies were killed in a fire at a hospital neonatal unit in Islamabad, the BBC reported. Pakistan spends less than 1% of its GDP on education, and many families rely on low-cost private schools, many of them run from poorly maintained rented buildings with limited oversight, the Guardian reported. Construction standards in Pakistan are widely reported to be poor, according to Al Jazeera.
Safety Audits Across the Province
The Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Faisal Karim Kundi, ordered a safety audit of all schools in the province, the BBC reported on Thursday. “We cannot allow the safety of our children to be compromised,” he said.
Authorities have ordered inspections of regional schools, Al Jazeera reported on Friday. The province’s education department has three days to report, according to The Associated Press as cited by Al Jazeera, and schools are to be classified as safe, in need of repairs or improvements, or potentially unsafe, with roofs, ceilings, walls and staircases assessed. Reports conflict on whether public schools are included as well as private ones, Al Jazeera said.
Dozens of mourners gathered outside the school on Friday, and some relatives said they had repeatedly warned the owner about rainwater seeping into classrooms, Al Jazeera reported. “Make an example of them, a lesson for all,” Mohammad Zaman, who lost two nephews, told Reuters news agency, as quoted by BBC News.
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Sources: BBC News, “Peshawar: At least 33 pupils and teacher killed after Pakistan school roof collapses”, 15 October 2026 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cked326llddgo); The Guardian, “Pakistan school roof collapse kills at least 34 children and teacher”, 15 October 2026 (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/15/pakistan-peshawar-school-roof-collapse-leaves-students-dead); Al Jazeera, “Pakistan orders school inspections following deadly roof collapse”, 16 October 2026 (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/16/pakistan-orders-school-inspections-following-deadly-roof-collapse)
Photo: Maximusopti, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Evening over Peshawar’s Bala Hisar fort and the streets beside it, February 2018. Shown for context only; the collapse was at a school in another part of the city.
