lahore, pakistanAP —
At least 14 schoolchildren were killed on Tuesday when the roof of a tutoring center under construction collapsed in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore, police and rescue officials said.
Eight other children were injured and are being treated in hospital, senior police official Faisal Kamran said, adding that the owner of the tutoring center and another person had been arrested.
Kamran said rescuers were searching through the rubble after receiving reports that more children may be trapped under the rubble. He said the tutoring center was located in a dilapidated building and the roof on the unfinished second floor collapsed due to apparent poor construction quality.
Building codes are often poorly enforced in Pakistan, and building collapses are common. Many structures are built using substandard materials, and safety regulations are often ignored to cut costs.
Ambulances and rescue workers rushed to the scene after the roof collapsed, witnesses said. Residents also joined in the search, using shovels and bare hands to remove debris in an attempt to rescue children trapped under the rubble.
Hours later, scenes of agony unfolded outside the hospital and around a residence on the outskirts of Lahore where the tutoring center was located, as the bodies of the children were handed over to their families. Parents wept over the loss of their children, and mothers and other female relatives wept and beat their hearts in grief.
Most of the victims lived nearby, and funeral prayers were scheduled for later Tuesday.
Residents expressed a mixture of sadness and anger as they demanded harsh punishment for the owners of the tutoring centers, accusing them of operating classes in dilapidated and dangerous buildings. Dozens of mourners could be seen gathering outside the victims’ homes to express their condolences.
“I don’t know whose house I should visit first to express my condolences for the loss of my child,” resident Zafar Iqbal said as he moved from one family’s home to another nearby street.
Lahore is the capital of Pakistan’s most populous province, Punjab, and many parents send their children to tutoring centers in the afternoons and evenings.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed sadness over the collapse of the roof of a night school building in Lahore. The respective statements expressed condolences to the families of the victims, prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured and said effective safety measures are needed to prevent similar tragedies.
