School roof collapse in Pakistan kills at least 35 and injures more than 50

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — The roof of a private school collapsed in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Thursday, killing at least 34 children and a teacher and injuring more than 50 other people in the deadliest building collapse ever in the country, authorities and a hospital official said.The children killed or injured at Al-Khair school were between 6 and 12 years old, while the oldest was 14, Lady Reading Hospital spokesperson Mohammad Asim said. Some of the injured were in critical condition, he said. The hospital declared an emergency as medical staff treated the wounded.Hours after the collapse in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, emergency services spokesperson Bilal Faizi said that everyone trapped beneath the rubble had been pulled out and crews had cleared debris.He told The Associated Press that the roofs of two classrooms collapsed when second- and third-grade children were in them with their teachers.

Faizi said ambulances and disaster management personnel arrived from a nearby facility within five minutes of being alerted.Nearly 100 rescuers eventually joined the operation, he said. Panicked, grieving parents were trying to help when crews arrived, Faizi said. He credited the rapid evacuation with saving at least 40 lives.

More than a dozen children suffered minor injuries, he said.Building collapses are common in Pakistan, where construction standards are often poorly enforced. Many structures are built with substandard materials, and safety regulations are frequently ignored to reduce costs.One teacher said it felt as though the sky had fallenHundreds of mourners later gathered at Rehman Baba cemetery for mass funeral prayers as grief gripped the neighborhood and announcements echoed from mosque loudspeakers, urging residents to join in prayers for those killed.Residents said most of the children killed lived in the Dir Colony neighborhood, where the school is located, leaving them unsure which bereaved family to visit first to offer condolences.Ambulances were seen leaving the hospital to bring the children’s bodies home as mourners wept and wailed.Mahwish Zaman, an injured teacher speaking from a hospital bed, said the school had an estimated 1,200 students enrolled in nursery through fifth grade. She told The Associated Press that she was in her classroom when the roof collapsed and felt as if the sky had …