At least 32 pupils and a female teacher have been killed after a private school roof collapsed in Pakistan on Thursday.

A further 45 people suffered major and minor injuries in the collapse in the northwestern city of Peshawar, according to officials.

Twelve girls were among the dead. Most of the children killed or injured were aged 13 or younger.

Three children were in a critical condition with head injuries, Lady Reading Hospital spokesman Mohammad Asim said.

Most of the 20 injured brought to that hospital had been treated and sent home, he added. 

A rescue official said the roof of an upper floor collapsed on to students in classrooms below, crumpling two storeys of the building.

The hospital declared an emergency as medical staff treated the wounded.

The collapse happened at 8.48am local time at the privately run Al-Khair Education center. The rescue operation lasted four to five hours, according to Arif Khattak, regional director of the Rescue Department.

Several children were trapped beneath the rubble as rescuers removed debris to reach them, emergency services spokesman Bilal Faizi said.

Residents were among the first to reach the school in a congested neighbourhood in central Peshawar, witnesses said. Rescue workers arrived within minutes.

At least 32 pupils and a female teacher were killed after a private school roof collapsed in Pakistan on Thursday

Army soldiers and rescue workers gather after a school roof collapse in Peshawar, Pakistan

More than 50 others were injured in the collapse, with three believed to be in a critical condition

An ambulance carrying children leaves during the search and rescue operation

Television footage showed ambulances rushing to the scene and rescue workers retrieving bloodied students from the rubble

Television footage showed rescuers clawing through debris with their bare hands and carrying bloodied children to waiting ambulances as relatives and residents crowded the narrow alley outside.

‘We have so far taken out at least 45 children from the rubble,’ district emergency officer Iftikhar Khan said.

Injured teacher Mahwish Zaman said the three-storey school had an estimated 1,200 students enrolled in nursery through fifth grade.

Speaking from her hospital bed, she told the Associated Press she was in her classroom when the roof collapsed and felt as if the sky had fallen. She regained consciousness in hospital. 

Resident Samiullah Khan said he rushed to the school after learning of the collapse and helped rescue three girls. His son, who attends the school, survived because he had stepped out of his classroom to drink water, he said. 

Another resident, Mohammad Khan, said rescuers carefully removed debris, trying to reach children and staff feared to be trapped beneath the collapsed roof.

Outside the school and at the state-run Lady Reading Hospital, anguished parents tried to find out whether their children had survived.

Distraught relatives accused the school of ignoring concerns about the building’s condition and demanded accountability.

‘Make an example of them, a lesson for all, so that no one dares open a school just to make money without providing facilities,’ said Mohammad Zaman, who lost two nephews in the collapse.

The cause of the collapse was under investigation. Peshawar police chief Mian Saeed said that the school’s owner had been arrested. 

Saeed had earlier said he feared the death toll could rise as just 47 of the 110 students in three classrooms at the time had been rescued.

‘It was a weak building structure,’ Saeed added. ‘Its roof was overweight with construction on a weak structure that caused the collapse.’

An injured boy receives medical treatment at Lady Reading Government Hospital

Rescue workers search for people following the roof collapse 

More than three dozen others were injured in the collapse in the northwestern city of Peshawar

The cause of the collapse was under investigation. Peshawar police chief Saeed Ahmed said that the school’s owner had been arrested

The provincial government said a committee had been formed to investigate the cause.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor Faisal Karim Kundi expressed sorrow and sought a report from the relevant authorities. He directed officials to provide the best possible medical care to the injured children.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also offered condolences to the bereaved families in separate statements.

Zardari called for a comprehensive investigation and stressed the need to ensure school buildings meet safety standards to prevent similar tragedies.

There was no comment from school officials.

In July, a roof collapsed at a tutoring center under construction in Lahore, killing four schoolchildren.

Building collapses are common in Pakistan, where construction standards are often poorly enforced. 

Many structures are built with substandard materials, and safety regulations are frequently ignored to reduce costs.