At least 28 people, including 27 pupils and a teacher, have died after a roof collapsed at a school in Peshawar, northwestern Pakistan, on Thursday, October 15, 2026, according to a hospital official.
Asim Khan of Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar confirmed the death toll to AFP, reporting that more than 30 people had also been injured. Six of the injured were believed to be in critical condition.
The incident triggered an urgent rescue operation as emergency teams worked to locate children who remained trapped beneath the debris.
Rescue Teams Race to Find Trapped Pupils
Bilal Ahmad Faizi, a spokesman for the Rescue 1122 emergency service in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said the collapse caused a classroom beneath the roof to be crushed, leaving schoolchildren trapped inside.
He explained that rescuers arriving at the scene discovered that one roof had fallen onto another, worsening the damage and trapping children under the rubble.
Faizi warned that more pupils could still be buried beneath the debris, raising fears that the death toll might increase as the search continued.
Rescue authorities deployed 16 ambulances, two disaster response vehicles and more than 60 emergency personnel to assist with the operation.
Photographs released by the provincial emergency service showed rescue workers wearing high-visibility vests as they moved through piles of broken building materials, dirt and rubble in search of survivors. AFP journalists also reported seeing dozens of people gathered at the scene.
Resident Calls for Investigation Into Building Safety
The tragedy prompted calls for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the collapse, with local resident Sher Ahmed raising concerns about the quality of the school’s construction.
Ahmed blamed what he described as substandard building materials and urged the authorities to establish what caused the structure to fail.
“With profound grief and sorrow, I urge the authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and take strict action against anyone found responsible so that such tragedies can be prevented in the future,” he said.
His comments have added to concerns about building standards and safety enforcement in Pakistan, where structural collapses have repeatedly resulted in fatalities.
Pakistani Leaders Express Condolences
Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, expressed deep sadness over the loss of life, extending condolences to the families of the victims.
In a statement, the prime minister said he shared their grief and prayed that those affected would find the strength and patience to endure what he described as an irreparable loss.
President Asif Ali Zardari also reacted to the incident, describing the collapse as a “heartbreaking tragedy”.
He said the entire nation stood with the affected families during their period of mourning.
Building Collapses Remain a Recurring Concern in Pakistan
The disaster has renewed attention on the dangers posed by building collapses in Pakistan, a country of more than 240 million people where poor safety standards and inadequate construction materials are frequently cited as contributing factors.
Schoolchildren have been among the victims of previous incidents. In June 2026, more than a dozen children were killed when a roof collapsed at a tutoring centre in Lahore, in eastern Pakistan.
Another deadly incident occurred in 2025, when a five-storey building collapsed in Lyari, a low-income area of Karachi in the country’s south. The disaster killed 27 people and injured 10 others.
The latest collapse in Peshawar has once again raised questions about construction quality, building inspections and the measures needed to prevent similar tragedies.
As rescue workers continue searching the school site, authorities face mounting pressure to determine what caused the collapse and establish whether negligence or safety failures played a role.
