Peshawar School Collapse Toll Rises to 29, Owner Arrested as Rescue Operation Ends and Inquiry Committee Formed

The death toll from the private school roof collapse in Peshawar has risen to at least 29, and police have arrested the school’s owner now that the rescue operation at the site has been completed. Deputy Commissioner Afaq Wazir said rescue teams had cleared all the debris and no injured child remained at the scene. Capital City Police Officer Dr Mian Saeed confirmed that everyone trapped under the rubble had been pulled out.

Six girls are among the dead, and most of the children killed were under 13. Lady Reading Hospital spokesperson Muhammad Asim said the number of bodies received at his hospital had reached 28, while some bodies were also taken to Naseerullah Khan Babar Memorial Hospital. Several of the injured remain in critical condition, and the emergency declared at Lady Reading Hospital is still in place.

The owner was arrested over alleged negligence and illegal construction, according to the police, and the administration has set up an inquiry committee to establish why the roof came down. Reports from the scene say the school was being run inside a residential house, with far more children studying there than the building was built for, and that weak roofs added on the upper floor gave way under the weight, bringing the lower roof down with them.

Provincial Education Secretary Inayatullah Waseem has directed the head of the Private Schools Regulatory Authority to submit a report by tomorrow. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi had already sought a detailed report on the incident, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had directed that the injured be given the best possible treatment.

When the collapse was first reported this morning, the confirmed toll stood at 21 children and a teacher. It climbed each time more of the debris was lifted. The question the inquiry now has to answer is a plain one: how a school packed beyond capacity was allowed to operate for years inside a house, and whose job it was to inspect the building before Thursday morning made the question unavoidable.