KP orders private-school safety checks after deadly Peshawar collapse

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has ordered inspections of all private-school buildings after a roof collapse at Al-Khair School in Peshawar killed 34 children and a teacher.

The provincial government has also announced an investigation into Thursday’s collapse. Police arrested the school’s owner, Mohammad Khan, while Peshawar Police Chief Saeed Ahmed said the building was structurally weak and that recent rain had weakened one of its roofs.

The inspection order requires district-level committees to examine both owned and rented school premises and submit their findings within three days. The checks are to cover roofs, ceilings, walls, columns, beams, foundations and staircases.

Buildings are to be classified as safe, requiring repairs or improvements, or potentially unsafe. That makes the order more than a general review: it sets out a process for identifying premises that may need urgent technical assessment before they continue operating.

Emergency responders recovered at least 40 children alive from the rubble, according to Bilal Faizi, a spokesperson for Peshawar emergency services. He said the collapsed structure was made of mud and bricks, and that some children died of suffocation.

Relatives of victims said they had previously raised concerns about rainwater entering classrooms and the condition of the building. Those claims are now part of the broader scrutiny surrounding how the school was allowed to operate.

The investigation is expected to establish the cause of the collapse and whether any regulatory or safety requirements were breached. The province’s inspection results will be crucial in determining whether other private-school buildings require repairs, closure or further engineering review.