Pakistani authorities have ordered inspections of all private schools in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after a school roof collapsed, killing 34 children and a teacher, as relatives of the victims alleged that the building's structural weaknesses had been reported earlier.

The provincial government announced an investigation into Thursday's collapse at Al-Khair school as victims' families demanded justice. One relative said he had warned the school owner about water leaking into classrooms.

Police arrested the school's owner, Mohammad Khan, on Thursday. Peshawar Police Chief Saeed Ahmed said the building was structurally weak and Khan had told officers that recent rains had weakened one of its roofs.

The government order, seen by The Associated Press, directs the provincial education department to form district committees to inspect private school buildings across the province and submit their findings and recommendations within three days.

The inspections must cover both owned and rented premises. Officials have been instructed to examine roofs, ceilings, walls, columns, beams, foundations and staircases.

District authorities must arrange urgent technical assessments and classify school buildings as safe, requiring repairs or improvements, or potentially unsafe, according to the order.

Emergency crews arrived within five minutes of receiving the alert, and all those trapped beneath the rubble had been recovered by the end of the rescue operation on Thursday. Rescuers pulled at least 40 children alive from the debris, said Bilal Faizi, a spokesperson for emergency services in Peshawar.

The collapsed roof was a traditional structure made of mud and bricks. Some of the children trapped beneath the debris died of suffocation, Faizi said.

Speaking from her hospital bed, injured teacher Mahwish Zaman said the collapse happened so suddenly that no one had time to escape.

She was in her classroom when she heard a loud crash from the floor above. Before she could warn her students to run to safety, the ceiling collapsed. She lost consciousness before being taken to hospital and later learned that many of her students had died.

Residents visited the victims' families, many of whom lived in Dir Colony, the Peshawar neighbourhood where the school is located.

Mohammad Zaman, whose two nephews died in the collapse, said he and other relatives had repeatedly complained to the school owner about rainwater leaking into classrooms. He said he had warned that the building's condition could lead to a tragedy.

Zaman, 36, said through tears that his nine-year-old nephew, Abdul, was in second grade, while 10-year-old Abuzar was in third grade. Abuzar's sister, Samiya, who attended nursery at the school, survived because she had gone outside to buy sweets.

Zakir Ullah lost both his sons, Abu Bakr and Mohammad, who were in the same classroom when the roof collapsed.

His daughter, who was in a different classroom, ran home to tell the family that the school had collapsed. They rushed back with her and found the boys' classroom buried under the rubble, he said.

Nothing was visible beneath the debris, Ullah said, describing the building as weak and demanding punishment for any officials who had authorised its use as a school.

“How could I have known this would take both my sons away from me,” he said.