Lahore Police Arrest Tutoring Centre Owner After Roof Collapse Kills At Least 14 Children

A roof collapse at a tutoring centre under construction in Lahore, Pakistan, killed at least 14 children on Tuesday, police and rescue officials said, with eight other children injured and being treated at a hospital.

“At least 14 schoolchildren have been killed after the roof of a tutoring centre in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore collapsed, according to officials”

Al Jazeera

Senior police official Faisal Kamran said the owner of the tutoring centre and another person have been arrested after the collapse on the outskirts of Lahore.

Al Jazeera

The Hindu reported that Punjab’s emergency service found children and a 30-year-old female teacher under rubble of the private after-school facility.

The BBC said the incident happened at a private tuition centre in the Kahna suburb of the Pakistani city, and that Farooq Ahmed of Rescue 1122 told the BBC they had received a call about the incident at 16:45 (12:45 BST).

Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari said preliminary reports showed the tutoring centre was unregistered and operating inside a privately owned residential building under a dilapidated roof.

Bokhari added, “If negligence, carelessness or any violation of the law is established, those responsible will face strict legal action,” as authorities opened the way for a possible negligence investigation.

BBC

The BBC reported that authorities launched an investigation into the collapse, and two people were taken into custody as part of the initial inquiry.

In a statement carried by PTV News, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed grief over the loss of lives and said he “prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured and directed the authorities to provide them with every possible medical assistance.”

Punjab authorities said they had been directed to survey unsafe buildings ahead of the monsoon season and introduce stricter rules for unregistered tutoring centres and private educational facilities.

“A man comforts a woman Tuesday mourning over the death of her child, killed after the roof of a tutoring center under-construction collapsed, on the outskirts of Lahore, Pakistan”

Columbia Missourian

President Asif Ali Zardari expressed grief over the deaths and called for effective safety measures to prevent such tragedies, while the BBC said the chief minister of Punjab, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, called it a “heartbreaking tragedy.”

Rescue 1122 spokesperson Farooq Ahmed told the BBC that the rescue operation had been completed within one hour, and that most people recovered were between seven and 11 years old.

The BBC also quoted a resident saying, “Suddenly the roof collapsed on top of quite a few children,” describing tiles on the roof undergoing repairs while the children studied.