At least 33 pupils and one teacher have died after a school roof collapsed in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar. Hospital officials confirmed the fatalities, with more than a dozen others injured, some critically.
Emergency services were alerted to the incident at the private Al-Khair school in Dir Colony at 08:48 local time on Thursday. A rescue official stated that the roof of an upper-floor classroom collapsed, causing ceilings below to cave in.
Peshawar police chief Mian Saeed confirmed that classrooms on three floors were affected. He stated the entire structure, which had "substandard" roof slabs, was "overloaded" and beyond its weight-bearing limit. The school's owner has been arrested.
The governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Faisal Karim Kundi, has ordered a safety audit of all schools in the province to identify risks and ensure corrective measures are taken.