Hospital officials said at least 27 pupils and a teacher died after the roof of a classroom collapsed at the private Al‑Khair school in Dir Colony, Peshawar.

More than a dozen other students were injured, several in critical condition, and some children are feared still trapped under the rubble.

Emergency services received the first call at 08:48 local time (03:48 GMT) on Thursday, shortly after lessons began, according to a rescue official.

The collapse involved a first‑floor classroom roof falling onto a ground‑floor classroom, causing the lower ceiling to cave in and burying children beneath the debris.

Officials said the school building was erected on a temporary basis, with two‑ and three‑storey sections that lacked a conventional reinforced‑concrete roof, using prefabricated roofing slabs instead.

Rescue workers faced difficulty reaching the site because the narrow street allows only a single vehicle to pass, complicating transport of the injured to Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital.

Local resident Sohail said his sister called at 09:30 urging him to come to the school, and residents tried to free trapped children using shovels.

The school’s owner has been arrested, and the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ordered a safety audit of all provincial schools to identify risks and enforce corrective measures.

The tragedy follows earlier incidents, including a roof collapse at a private tuition centre near Lahore that killed fourteen children, and a hospital fire in Islamabad that claimed fourteen newborns.