At least 14 schoolchildren died and eight were injured after a roof collapsed at a tutoring centre under construction in Lahore, Pakistan.
Police and rescue officials confirmed the fatalities on Tuesday, adding that the owner of the facility and another individual had been arrested.
Senior police official Faisal Kamran said that rescuers were sifting through the debris amid fears more children could be trapped. He attributed the collapse to poor construction quality, noting the tutoring centre was housed within an aging building, with the roof of an unfinished second floor giving way.
Building collapses are a frequent occurrence in Pakistan, mainly stemming from lax enforcement of construction standards. Structures are built with substandard materials and safety regulations are routinely disregarded in an effort to cut costs.
Eyewitnesses described a frantic scene as ambulances and rescue workers rushed to the site following the collapse. Local residents joined in the desperate search, employing shovels and their bare hands to clear rubble in a bid to reach children trapped beneath the wreckage.
Hours later, profound anguish gripped the Lahore neighbourhood and hospitals as the bodies of the young victims were returned to their families. Parents wept, while mothers and female relatives cried and beat their chests in grief. Most victims lived nearby.
Sorrow was compounded by anger, with residents demanding severe punishment for the owner, whom they accused of operating classes in an unsafe, dilapidated building. “We don’t know whose home to visit first to offer condolences for the loss of their children,” resident Zafar Iqbal lamented, moving between bereaved homes.
Lahore, the capital of Pakistan’s most populous Punjab province, sees many parents send their children to private tutoring centres in the afternoons and evenings.
President Asif Ali Zardari and prime minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed their sorrow over the tragedy, offering condolences to the families of the victims and calling for effective safety measures to prevent future incidents.