Peshawar private school roof collapses in Dir Colony; death toll reports differ

What happened

The roof of a private school collapsed on Thursday in Peshawar’s Dir Colony, according to Rescue 1122 [3]. Students who were attending a class were buried under the rubble, CCPO Mian Saeed said [2].

The reports do not agree on the number of deaths and injuries:

• Daily Times reported that four children died and twenty others were injured [1].
• Pakistan Observer reported that at least 17 people were killed, 16 students and a female teacher, and said CCPO Mian Saeed confirmed the casualties [2].
• Dawn, citing Rescue 1122 spokesperson Bilal Ahmed Faizi, reported at least four people killed and 20 injured. It said four people had died, citing Lady Reading Hospital [3].

On injuries, the CCPO said more than 40 people were hurt and all had been shifted to hospitals for treatment [2]. Rescue 1122 said its emergency teams took 20 injured people, including students and teachers, to nearby hospitals [2]. Dawn reported that rescue personnel had taken around 20 people to hospitals. An earlier Rescue 1122 statement said more than 10 children had been given first aid and taken to hospitals [3].

Rescue workers were still searching the site, and some people may still be trapped under the debris [2]. Dawn reported that several children were feared trapped under the rubble [3].

Dawn also listed other recent collapses in Pakistan. In July, three girls aged 3 to 13 were killed when part of the outer wall of a government primary school near Umerkot fell on them. The same month, a child died and at least five other people were injured when the roof of an under-construction private school building in Lahore’s Baghbanpura neighbourhood collapsed. In June, 14 children died when the roof of a private tuition centre collapsed in Lahore’s Kahna area. Less than two months before that, four children were killed and 20 people injured when a classroom roof at a private school in Dera Ghazi Khan collapsed. A probe into the Dera Ghazi Khan incident found that construction for an extension of the tuition centre’s building was under way when the roof of the classroom fell [3].

Dawn also reported that two men died in Pakpattan last week when the roof of their house collapsed during heavy rain and a windstorm. Other house and building collapses included one in Gujrat in June that killed a labourer, and one in Islamabad’s Shahzad Town in August that killed a couple [3].

Who is affected

The people affected include students and teachers at the private school in Dir Colony. Rescue 1122 said the injured included students and teachers [2][3]. Pakistan Observer reported a female teacher among the dead [2].