At least 28 students and one teacher dead in Pakistan school roof collapse

At least 28 students under the age of 13 and one teacher were killed when a school roof collapsed in Pakistan's Peshawar city, a local hospital spokesperson said on Thursday.

The students and teacher died at the scene, but were then taken to the Lady Reading Hospital along with more than 30 people who were injured in the incident.

Some of the casualties are in a critical condition.

Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for the emergency services said several children remained trapped under the rubble.

According to witnesses, residents were among the first to reach the school in a congested neighbourhood in central Peshawar.

The cause of the collapse is under investigation. Peshawar police chief Saeed Ahmed said the building was structurally weak and the school's owner had been arrested.

"It was a weak building structure … Its roof was overweight with construction on a weak structure that caused the collapse," Mr Ahmed said.

Mr Ahmed said he feared the death toll could rise.

"We have so far taken out at least 45 children from the rubble," district emergency officer Iftikhar Khan said.

A rescue official said the roof of a higher floor collapsed onto the roof of the first floor of the building, which then collapsed onto students.

Community rescue effort

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

Hours later, rescue officials said that everyone trapped beneath the rubble had been pulled out and crews were clearing the debris.

The provincial government said the school occupied a three-storey building.

Mahwish Zaman, an injured teacher speaking from a hospital bed, said the school had an estimated 1,200 students enrolled in nursery through to fifth grade.

She told The Associated Press she was in her classroom when the roof collapsed and felt as if the sky had fallen. She regained consciousness in the hospital.

Samiullah Khan said he rushed to the school after learning of the collapse and helped rescue three girls.

Mr Khan said his son, who attends the school, survived because he had stepped out of his classroom to drink water.

In Islamabad, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed sorrow over the deaths and offered condolences to the bereaved families in separate statements.

"The entire nation shares the grief of the affected families in this hour of sorrow," Mr Zardari said.

He also called for a comprehensive investigation into the collapse and stressed the need to ensure school buildings met safety standards to prevent similar tragedies.

It comes after a roof collapsed at a tutoring centre under construction in Lahore in July, killing four schoolchildren.

AP / Reuters