School roof collapse in Pakistan kills at least 27 students and one teacher

ISLAMABAD — At least 27 students, most younger than 13, were killed in Pakistan on Thursday, along with a teacher, when a school roof collapsed during classes in the northwestern city of Peshawar, authorities said, warning that the death toll could rise.

Television images showed ambulances rushing to the site at the privately run Al-Khair Education Center while rescuers pulled bloodied students from the rubble.

“We have taken out at least 45 children,” said district emergency officer Iftikhar Khan, adding that more were reported to be buried in the rubble.

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Rescue teams were working to extricate bodies and take the injured to the hospital, said government official Bilal Faizi.

Twenty injured and most of the dead were brought to the city’s Lady Reading Hospital, its spokesperson, Mohammad Asim, said.

A rescue official said the ceiling came down on the students after the roof of a higher floor collapsed, crumpling the two stories.

Authorities said an investigation had been ordered to determine the cause.

Peshawar police chief Mian Saeed said he feared the death toll could rise as just 47 of the 110 students in three classrooms at the time had been rescued.

“It was a weak building structure,” Saeed added. “Its roof was overweight with construction on a weak structure that caused the collapse.”

There was no immediate comment from school officials.