14 children killed as tutoring centre roof collapses in Pakistan

Fourteen children died after the roof of a tutoring centre collapsed in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore on Tuesday (June 30).

Accoriding to Punjab's emergency service, rescuers found children and a 30-year-old female teacher under rubble of the private after-school facility. The ​children killed were aged ‌five to ‌16 with most below nine. 

The teacher along with eight other injured children were rushed to Lahore General Hospital for treatment. According to Rescue 1122, five of the injured children remain in critical condition.

Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari said preliminary reports showed the tutoring centre was unregistered and operating inside a privately owned residential building under a dilapidated roof.

Such centres are common across Pakistan, where children attend extra lessons outside regular school hours.

"If negligence, carelessness or any violation of the law is established, those responsible will face strict legal action," Bokhari said in a statement.

Punjab authorities had also been directed to survey unsafe buildings ahead of the monsoon season and introduce stricter rules for unregistered tutoring centres and private educational facilities, Bokhari added.

President Asif Ali Zardari expressed grief over the deaths and called for effective safety measures to prevent such tragedies.