Lahore tuition centre roof collapse kills at least 14 children; frantic rescue efforts continue as more feared trapped

By Our Correspondent 

LAHORE: At least 14 children were killed after the roof of a tuition centre collapsed in Lahore’s Kahna area on Tuesday, while rescuers and local residents continued searching through the rubble amid fears that more victims remain trapped beneath the debris.

Names of the deceased children 

1. Abdullah, son of Mustafa, 8 years old
2. Salman, son of Wasim, 8 years old
3. Arooj, daughter of Mustafa, 9 years old
4. Mahnoor, daughter of Farooq, 8 years old (The Urdu says ” (son of), but as Mahnoor is typically a female name, this appears to be a typographical error.)
5. Tashbeeh, daughter of Shehzada, 7 years old
6. Fawad, son of Muhammad Abid, 8 years old
7. Iman Fatima, daughter of Mustafa, 11 years old
8. Khadija, daughter of Wasim, 12 years old
9. Arooj, daughter of Murtaza, 6 years old
10. Murtaza, 4 years old, and Ramsha, 6 years old (The parent’s name is not mentioned in the provided text.)
11. Ali, son of Farman, 6 years old
12. Arham, son of Hassan Ali, 8 years old
13. Dua, daughter of Gulfam, 7 years old
14. Abdullah, son of Asghar, 7 years old

According to Edhi and rescue officials, around 32 students, aged between five and 16 years, were inside the tuition centre when the roof suddenly caved in during class. A female teacher was also present at the time of the incident.

Emergency teams, assisted by residents using shovels and their bare hands, have been working continuously to remove debris in a desperate effort to rescue survivors and recover more children believed to be trapped under the collapsed structure.

Officials said the emergency was reported at approximately 4:45pm, prompting a large-scale rescue operation involving Rescue 1122, Edhi volunteers and other emergency responders.

As rescue efforts continued late into the evening, authorities warned that the death toll could rise further as more children were being recovered from beneath the rubble.

Among those reported killed were Murtaza, Khadija, Rimsh, Mah Noor, Tabish, Fawad, Ghulam Nabi and several other children. Authorities said formal identification of some victims is still under way, while families anxiously waited outside hospitals and the collapse site for news of their loved ones.

Witnesses said the building operates as a school during the morning hours and as a tuition centre in the afternoon. The children had gathered for their regular tuition classes when the roof collapsed without warning.

The tragedy left scenes of heartbreak outside the building, where grieving parents cried out the names of their children while rescue workers continued combing through the wreckage in search of survivors.

Police have arrested the owners of the tuition centre along with 12 other individuals as part of an investigation into the cause of the collapse. Authorities said legal proceedings have been initiated and responsibility will be determined after a structural assessment and official inquiry.

The injured were shifted to nearby hospitals, where doctors declared several children dead on arrival while others remained under treatment.

Officials have not yet confirmed the exact cause of the collapse. Engineers and forensic experts are expected to inspect the building to determine whether structural defects, illegal construction or negligence contributed to the incident.

The rescue operation was continuing at the time of filing this report, with authorities cautioning that the number of casualties may increase as more children are recovered from the debris.

Note: Entry 10 appears incomplete in the original Urdu text. It lists Murtaza (4 years) and Ramsha (6 years) but does not specify their parentage. Additionally, “Mahnoor son of Farooq” likely contains a typographical error in the Urdu source.