PESHAWAR: The governor of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province on Friday announced financial compensation for families of the people who were killed and injured this week when the roof of a school collapsed in Peshawar city.

Tragedy struck the Dir Colony neighborhood of the city on Thursday morning when the roof of the Al-Khair private school collapsed. Rescue officials and the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) spokesperson said 35 people were killed, including 34 students and one female teacher.

Police said it had taken the owner of the school into custody, as authorities launched an investigation into the reasons of the collapse. Peshawar police chief said the building was structurally weak. However, the school’s owner said this week’s rains had weakened one of the roofs, according to police.

“No one can replace a child, and financial assistance cannot ease the grief of parents,” KP Governor Faisal Karim Kunid said, according to a statement issued by his office.

“The families of children who lost their lives in the tragedy will receive financial assistance of Rs1 million [$3,610] each, while the injured will be given Rs300,000 [$1,083] each.”

The governor said those officers who issued no objection certificates to schools should be identified, directing officials to submit a report on the matter within 15 days.

Building collapses are common in Pakistan, largely due to poor safety standards and substandard construction materials in the South Asian nation of more than 240 million people.

In June, more than a dozen children were killed when a roof collapsed at a tutoring center in the eastern city of Lahore.

In 2025, 27 people were killed and 10 injured when a five-story building collapsed in the impoverished Lyari area of the southern city of Karachi.