At least 33 pupils and a teacher have died after a roof collapse at a school in Peshawar, north-western Pakistan, hospital officials said. More than a dozen others were injured, some critically, while rescue officials fear more children may be trapped beneath the debris.
Emergency services were called to the private Al-Khair school in Dir Colony at 08:48 local time on Thursday, after lessons had started. A rescue official said the roof of an upper-floor classroom fell, bringing down ceilings below. Peshawar police chief Mian Saeed later said classrooms on three floors had collapsed.
Saeed said the structure was overloaded and its roof slabs were substandard. Emergency official Arif Khattak said the building had been constructed on a temporary basis. The school's narrow street made it difficult for rescue workers to reach the site and take injured people to hospital.
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