At least 28 students, most of them under the age of 13, and a teacher were killed after the roof of a private school in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar collapsed during classes. This was reported by “Reuters“, warning that the death toll could rise, News.bg reports.
Television footage showed ambulances arriving in front of the “Al-Khair“ school, while rescue teams pulled injured children from under the rubble. "We have pulled out at least 45 children," said Iftikhar Khan, the district emergency officer. He said there were reports of other students still trapped.
Rescuers were continuing to pull out bodies and transport the injured to hospital, government official Bilal Faizi said. Mohammad Asim, a spokesman for the city's Lady Reading Hospital, said 20 injured people and most of the dead had been taken there.
A rescue official said the ceiling collapsed on the students after the roof of the upper floor collapsed, crushing both levels of the building. Authorities have ordered an investigation to determine the cause of the incident.
Peshawar Police Chief Mian Saeed expressed fears that the death toll would rise. He said there were a total of 110 students in the three classrooms at the time of the collapse, and only 47 were rescued.
“The structure of the building was weak,“ Said said. He added that the roof was too heavy for the structure, which led to the collapse.