Peshawar school roof collapse kills at least 28 children
At least 28 pupils and a teacher died at the private Al-Khair school in northwest Pakistan, more than 50 people were injured, and the owner was arrested.
The roof of the three-story private Al-Khair school collapsed on Thursday, October 15, 2026, in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwest Pakistan. According to hospital and government figures, at least 28 children and one teacher were killed and more than 50 people were injured. The final death toll still differs from source to source.
How many people died?
Muhammad Asim, a spokesman for Lady Reading Hospital, confirmed that all the children who were killed or hurt were 13 or younger. Some of the injured are in critical condition, and the hospital declared an emergency. The Associated Press reports at least 28 children and a teacher dead, along with more than 50 injured. Al Jazeera carries the same death toll but writes of more than 20 injured, while France 24’s first report counted 27 pupils and a teacher dead and more than 30 injured, six of them critically.
The Pakistani newspaper Express Tribune gives the highest figure. Citing hospital authorities, it says at least 34 children and a teacher died. Lady Reading Hospital received 33 bodies, 32 of them children and a teacher, and Naseerullah Babar Memorial Hospital received two more children, which deputy medical superintendent Dr. Ibrahim confirmed. According to the same paper, 53 patients in total were brought to Lady Reading, and 17 of them were discharged after observation.
The sources do not explain the gap between 28 and 34 deaths, so this article uses the lower figure, the one confirmed by the AP and Al Jazeera.
How did the rescue unfold?
The school stands in the Dir Colony neighborhood, on narrow, densely populated streets. According to police statements carried by Express Tribune, about 30 children were in the upper-floor classrooms when the roof fell. Heavy machinery could not reach the ruins, as Kamal Haider, an Al Jazeera correspondent reporting from Islamabad, explained from the scene:
“Some of the heavy machinery, which would be important, has not been able to reach the site. Locals and rescue teams are using buckets and utensils to clear the debris and try to pull out those trapped underneath. About 350 students are enrolled in this school.”
Haider added that the number of victims will probably rise and that dozens of injured students are in hospital, some of them in serious condition. Rescue 1122 workers and members of the Pakistani army took part in the operation, and ambulances carried the injured to hospitals. Provincial police chief Zulfikar Hamid ordered a green corridor opened for ambulances heading to the hospitals.
The Associated Press later reported that rescuers said everyone trapped had been pulled out and that crews were clearing the debris. A local resident, Samiullah Khan, told the agency that he ran to the school as soon as he heard about the collapse and helped save three girls. His son, who attends the same school, survived because he had stepped out of his classroom for a drink of water at that moment. Outside the school and in front of Lady Reading Hospital, parents spent hours searching for news of their children.
A teacher, Mahvish Zaman, spoke to the agency from a hospital bed. She said she was in her classroom when the roof came down, that it felt as if the sky had fallen, and that she regained consciousness only at the hospital. By her estimate, about 1,200 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are enrolled at the school. The sources disagree on enrollment: Al Jazeera cites about 350 students, and the police chief, according to Express Tribune, put it at 110.
What is known about the cause?
The school owner has been detained, and a complaint is being filed against him. Peshawar’s police chief, whom the AP names as Saeed Ahmed, said the building was structurally weak. According to Express Tribune, he also said the structure looked overloaded and that the roof slab was made of choka, thin flat clay tiles. He added that authorities will examine which building regulations were violated, and that the building is in a dangerous state and could collapse further.
The provincial government formed a commission to establish the cause. Governor Faisal Karim Kundi asked the relevant authorities for a report and said:
“The loss of precious lives of innocent children is an extremely painful tragedy.”
President Asif Ali Zardari called for a comprehensive investigation and stressed that school buildings must meet safety standards. “The entire nation shares the grief of the affected families in this hour of mourning,” Zardari said. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed condolences and ordered the rescue to be sped up and the injured to receive the best possible treatment. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party, demanded that those trapped be pulled out immediately.
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar posted on X:
“Our children are our most precious treasure, and every such loss is a tragedy for the whole country. My sincere condolences and prayers are with the families who have lost their loved ones.”
Dar added that the prime minister and the government had taken the situation seriously and that the safety of children must remain the top priority.
An earlier case
Building collapses are not rare in Pakistan, because construction standards are often poorly enforced and many structures are built with substandard materials. The Associated Press notes that in July this year four pupils died in Lahore when the roof of a tutoring center under construction collapsed.
