The Roof Was Weak, and the Children Were Inside

In the narrow alleys of Peshawar's Dir Colony, where morning light arrives late and families know their neighbors by the sound of their footsteps, the school day began as it always does. Children gathered in classrooms. A teacher stood before them. Then the roof came down.

At 8:48 a.m. local time on Thursday, the roof of a higher floor at the Al-Khair Education Center collapsed onto the classrooms below, crushing two stories of the privately run school. At least 32 students and one teacher were killed. Most of the children were under 13 years old. At least 45 others were injured, some with head trauma, according to rescue officials .

The rescue operation lasted more than four hours. Television footage showed rescuers clawing through debris with their bare hands, carrying bloodied children to waiting ambulances as panicked parents and relatives crowded the narrow alley outside. A resident described seeing about ten to fifteen children trapped under rubble, with debris reaching up to their necks. "We pulled them out quickly," he said .

Peshawar police chief Mian Saeed said the building's structure was weak and its roof was "overloaded with construction on a weak structure," which caused the collapse. The school's owner was arrested, and authorities opened an investigation . A hospital spokesperson said the fatalities included 12 girl students and a female teacher. Three children remained in critical condition with head injuries .

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed "deep sorrow and grief over the precious lives lost," offering condolences to the families. President Asif Ali Zardari called the collapse a "heart-wrenching tragedy" . Distraught relatives accused the school of ignoring concerns about the building's condition and demanded accountability. "Make an example of them, a lesson for all, so that no one dares open a school just to make money without providing facilities," said Mohammad Zaman, who lost two nephews in the collapse .

The tragedy has renewed questions about school safety in Pakistan, where weak infrastructure and unregulated private schools have been a persistent concern. For the families of Dir Colony, the morning brought a loss that no investigation can undo. For the community, the school that was meant to be a place of learning became, in an instant, a place of mourning.

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Sources: Agência Brasil, Reuters, LRT, Lusa, Telegraph India, Libya News Agency