The roof of a first-floor classroom at Peshawar’s private Al-Khair school collapsed onto a classroom below after lessons had begun, according to a rescue official cited by the BBC. [E2]
Dawn reported at least 33 people — 32 students and a female teacher — were killed when the roof collapsed in Afridi Abad. The BBC said a teacher was among those killed. Muhammad Asim, a spokesperson for Lady Reading Hospital, told Dawn that the death toll had risen from an earlier figure of 28. [E6][E1][E7]
The Guardian reported that most of the students killed were younger than 13. Mian Saeed, the Peshawar police chief, said the toll could rise because 47 students had been rescued from 110 in the three affected classrooms. [E4][E5]
The city’s police chief confirmed the school owner’s arrest, and the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ordered a safety audit of all schools in the province. [E3]
At a Friday press conference, Governor Faisal Karim Kundi said legal action against those responsible for negligence would be taken within 15 days. [E8]
Kundi said the province’s private-school building-audit reports would be submitted within four to five days. [E9]
The governor also announced Rs300,000 in compensation for each injured person. [E10]