33 PEOPLE KILLED IN SCHOOL ROOF COLLAPSE

ISLAMABAD, OCTOBER 15 /SRNA–Reuters/ - At least 32 students and one teacher have been killed when the roof of a school collapsed during morning classes in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, police and rescue services said.

Rescuers spent hours pulling children from the rubble of the Al Khair private educational center as parents and relatives gathered in panic at the school complex.

Most of the victims are under the age of 13 and come from low-income families.

Arif Hatak, regional director of the Rescue Department, said that at least 45 children had sustained minor or serious injuries.

He added that the accident occurred at 8:48 a.m. local time and that the rescue operation lasted four to five hours.

Television footage showed rescuers digging through the rubble with their bare hands and carrying bloodied children to ambulances.

An unnamed rescue service official said that the roof of the upper floor collapsed onto the classrooms below, causing two floors of the building to cave in.

Three children are in critical condition with head injuries, while most of the injured were taken to the hospital, treated, and discharged.