Pakistan arrests school owner after fatal roof collapse
Police arrested the owner as officials formed a committee to investigate the collapse in Peshawar.
Follow-up to: Children killed as school roof collapses in Pakistan Thursday, 15 October 2026, 09:02
Police in Pakistan have arrested the owner of a private school after its roof collapsed in Peshawar, killing children and a teacher. The provincial government has appointed a committee to investigate the cause, while reports differ over the precise death toll.
Peshawar police chief Saeed Ahmed said the school owner had been arrested after the collapse at Al-Khair School in the city’s Afridi Abad area. No charge or court appearance had been reported, and the arrest does not establish criminal responsibility.
The development follows the collapse reported earlier on Thursday, when pupils and staff were inside the three-storey school. The Associated Press reported at least 29 deaths, including 28 children and a teacher, while Dawn reported 28 deaths, including 27 students and a female teacher. Both accounts said people were injured, but gave different figures.
Dawn reported that the rescue operation had ended and that debris had been cleared. The hospital treating casualties had declared an emergency, according to reports. The children involved were aged 13 or under, the hospital spokesman said, but no pupils were identified.
Saeed Ahmed said the building was structurally weak. Dawn, citing the city police chief, reported that construction on an already weak structure may have contributed to the collapse. Those accounts describe an early assessment rather than an established finding.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government said it had formed a committee to investigate what happened. The provincial governor requested a detailed report, while Pakistan’s president and prime minister called for a comprehensive investigation and urged authorities to ensure that school buildings meet safety standards.
The inquiry will need to establish the condition of the building, whether construction work or overloading was involved, and whether inspections or safety rules were followed. Neither the police arrest nor the officials’ statements yet answer those questions.
The incident has renewed attention to building safety in Pakistan, where roof and building collapses have caused deaths in several recent cases. Dawn reported that earlier collapses had also prompted investigations, but it is not yet clear whether the new committee will recommend wider enforcement or changes to school inspections.
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The arrest, committee and preliminary structural concerns are supported by same-day reporting from AP and Dawn. The article preserves the disagreement over casualty figures and does not present the cause or legal responsibility as settled.
- confirmed Police arrested the owner of the private school. — Peshawar police chief Saeed Ahmed told AP that the owner had been arrested. source
- confirmed The provincial government formed a committee to investigate the collapse. — AP reported that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had formed an investigative committee. source
- confirmed Reports differed over the death toll and casualty breakdown. — AP reported 29 deaths, while Dawn reported 28, with different breakdowns. source
- confirmed The building was described as structurally weak. — The assessment was attributed to the Peshawar police chief by AP and Dawn. source
Editor's note
The arrest and investigation committee are confirmed by AP. Death and injury figures remained inconsistent between reports, so the article states the discrepancy rather than presenting one total as definitive. The cause of the collapse remains unconfirmed.Sources
The story so far
- Thursday, 15 October 2026, 09:02 Children killed as school roof collapses in Pakistan
- Thursday, 15 October 2026, 11:16 Pakistan arrests school owner after fatal roof collapse (this article)
More on this in other media
- The Guardian — „pakistan peshawar”
- BBC News — „pakistan peshawar”
- Sky News — „pakistan peshawar”