Pakistan orders school inspections following deadly roof collapse

What the report says

Pakistan has ordered inspections of schools in the northeastern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after a classroom roof collapse at Al-Khair school in Peshawar killed at least 34 children and a teacher, according to Al Jazeera and The Associated Press. The incident happened on Thursday, and reports said the provincial education department was given three days to submit its findings.

Officials said the review will assess school buildings for safety and may classify them as safe, in need of repairs, or potentially unsafe. The checks are expected to look at features such as roofs, ceilings, walls and staircases. Al Jazeera reported that there was some uncertainty over whether the inspections will apply to public schools, private schools, or both.

Police arrested the school owner, Mohammad Khan, after the collapse. Authorities said the building was structurally weak, and police said Khan told officers that recent rain had damaged the roof. Relatives of the victims, however, said they had previously warned about leaks and water seeping into classrooms. Families and mourners gathered in Peshawar as calls for accountability grew.

The tragedy has renewed attention on building safety in Pakistan, where poor construction standards and weak enforcement have been reported for years. Al Jazeera also noted that a separate school-related roof collapse in Lahore earlier this year killed 14 people.