Twenty-seven students and a teacher were killed on Thursday after a school roof collapsed in Peshawar, northwestern Pakistan, a hospital official said, DAWN reports.
Asim Khan of Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital also confirmed the death toll to AFP, adding that more than 30 people were injured, six of whom were believed to be in critical condition.
Police in Peshawar have arrested the owner of Khair Education System following a school roof collapse that killed 28 people, including 27 students, BBC reports.
The Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Peshawar confirmed the arrest, saying the private school in Dir Colony was being operated as an educational trust.
According to preliminary investigations, the building was structurally weak, which led to the collapse.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed “deep sorrow and grief over the loss of precious lives” in a statement.
“The Prime Minister extends his condolences to the bereaved families and prays for them to have the strength and patience to bear this irreparable loss,” the statement said.
Building and roof collapses are common in Pakistan, where poor safety standards and the use of substandard construction materials have contributed to such incidents.
In June this year, more than a dozen children were killed when the roof of a tutoring centre collapsed in the eastern city of Lahore.
In 2025, 27 people were killed and 10 others injured when a five-storey building collapsed in Lyari, a low-income neighbourhood in the southern city of Karachi.