At least 33 students and two teachers were killed and over 50 people injured after a school roof collapsed at the Al-Khair Education Centre in Peshawar, Pakistan, due to a weak building structure overloaded with construction, prompting the arrest of the school owner as rescue operations continue.

At least 33 students and two teachers were killed and over 50 people injured after a school roof collapsed at the Al-Khair Education Centre in Peshawar, Pakistan, due to a weak building structure overloaded with construction, prompting the arrest of the school owner as rescue operations continue.

At least 33 students and two teachers were killed and over 50 people injured after a school roof collapsed at the Al-Khair Education Centre in Peshawar, Pakistan, due to a weak building structure overloaded with construction, prompting the arrest of the school owner as rescue operations continue.

At least 33 students and two teachers were killed on Thursday after a school roof collapsed in Pakistan. More than 50 people were injured, many critically, according to hospital authorities. 

All the victims were reportedly children aged 13 or younger. Television footage showed students being pulled from the rubble. 

The incident occurred at Al-Khair Education Centre, a private school in the northwestern city of Peshawar. Initial reports indicate the roof fell on the students in a chain reaction after the ceiling of a higher floor collapsed onto the floor below, destroying two storeys of the building. 

A total of 110 children were enrolled in the school, and 75 students were present in different classrooms when the roof caved in. 

"We have taken ​out at least 45 children," district emergency officer Iftikhar ​Khan told Reuters. More children are reportedly trapped inside the wreckage. Rescue teams are clearing the debris and searching for children and school staff. 

The congested location of the school is further complicating rescue efforts, as heavy machinery, which would have helped in recovering those buried under the rubble, cannot reach the area.

"It was a weak building structure," the police chief Mian Saeed told Reuters. "Its roof was overloaded with construction on a weak structure that caused the collapse." 

Police have arrested the owner of the school. Though the poor construction is expected to have caused the collapse, authorities said an investigation is underway to determine the exact cause behind the collapse.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his deep grief over the loss of life. 

Building and roof collapses occur frequently in Pakistan. Three girls, aged between three and 13, were killed in July after a portion of the outer wall of a government primary school in Sindh province collapsed on them. That same month, a child was killed while five other people were injured after the roof of an under-construction private school building in Lahore collapsed. 

In June, 14 children were killed when the roof of a private tuition centre collapsed in Lahore. The incident occurred right after four children were killed when the roof of a private school in Dera Ghazi Khan district collapsed.