Peshawar school roof collapse kills at least 31 people

Developing: death tolls differ between outlets and are being updated.

At least 31 people, most of them students, were killed when a roof collapsed at a private school in Peshawar, in northwestern Pakistan, on Thursday morning, Oct. 15, 2026, hospital and police officials said.

Dawn, the Pakistani daily, reported that 30 students and a female teacher died, according to Lady Reading Hospital spokesman Muhammad Asim, who had earlier put the toll at 33. Al Jazeera reported at least 35 dead, and CBS News reported at least 29. The differing counts have not been reconciled.

The collapse happened at the Al-Khair school in the Afridi Abad area of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Dawn reported. A parent told the newspaper he got a call around 8:50 a.m. and reached the site about 9 a.m. A witness told the Associated Press that first-period classes had just started, CBS reported.

Rescue 1122 spokesman Bilal Ahmad Faizi said one roof “collapsed onto another,” crushing a classroom below, Dawn reported. Peshawar police chief Mian Saeed Ahmed said the roof was “overweight with construction on a weak structure,” as quoted by Dawn and by Reuters via CBS.

Peshawar Deputy Commissioner Afaq Wazir said rescue teams had cleared all the debris and that no more injured children remained at the scene. Lady Reading Hospital received 61 people, 30 of whom had been discharged after treatment, Dawn reported. District emergency officer Iftikhar Khan told Reuters: “We have taken out at least 45 children.”

Dawn reported that the students were aged seven to 14. Al Jazeera said most of those killed or hurt were between six and 12.

Police said the school’s owner has been arrested, Al Jazeera reported. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi told the prime minister the owner was in custody and an investigation had begun, Dawn reported. No charges had been reported by Friday, and the owner has not been convicted of anything. Al Jazeera reported that, according to police, the owner blamed the week’s rains for weakening one of the roofs. Some relatives told Al Jazeera they had warned the owner that rainwater was seeping into classrooms. Those accounts have not been independently verified.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took “serious notice,” Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said, and directed action under the law against those responsible. The governor ordered a province-wide structural safety audit of educational institutions and said the first step was to establish who issued the school’s no-objection certificate, Dawn reported. Compensation of Rs1 million for bereaved families and Rs200,000 for the injured was announced, Dawn reported.

Two provincial committees were formed to investigate. One, led by Transport Department Secretary Zubair Ahmed, must report to the chief secretary within seven days, Dawn reported. On Friday, Al Jazeera reported, the government ordered school inspections across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Under the order, citing AP, the province’s education department has three days to report, and schools will be rated safe, in need of repairs, or potentially unsafe, with roofs, ceilings, walls and staircases assessed. Reports conflict on whether the checks cover public and private schools or only private ones.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said it was “appalled” and called the collapse “not an accident but a preventable failure,” demanding an independent, time-bound inquiry, according to Dawn. UNICEF called for strict enforcement of building safety standards and regular inspections of all schools, and offered psychosocial support.

Dawn’s timeline of school collapses since 2021 lists at least 17 earlier incidents, including one on June 30, 2026, in Kahna near Lahore, Punjab, that killed 14 children. Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder said the government has not enforced building codes.

For Canadians, the Government of Canada’s travel advisory for Pakistan, last updated Oct. 15, says to exercise a high degree of caution overall but to avoid all travel to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with exceptions for the Haripur and Abbottabad districts and Chitral district. Peshawar is not among the exceptions, and the advisory describes the security situation in parts of the province, including Peshawar, as unstable. Canadians with family in the city can check travel.gc.ca for current guidance. Canada has a large Pakistani community.

The collapse comes as the province is also in political turmoil. Our earlier report covered how Pakistan suspended Imran Khan’s party’s provincial government on Oct. 11.

What to watch next: the education department’s inspection findings are due within three days, and the first committee reports within seven days.

Via Dawn, Al Jazeera and CBS News.

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