LAHORE — Mourners gathered across Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore on Wednesday for the funerals of 14 schoolchildren killed when the roof of a tutoring center collapsed, as police continued investigating whether negligence and unsafe construction practices caused one of the country's deadliest recent building accidents involving children.
Funeral prayers began before dawn for the victims, who were aged up to 14, with most laid to rest in a local cemetery while some families transported the bodies to their hometowns for burial, according to local authorities. Ambulances returned the children's bodies to their homes overnight in Lahore's Kahna neighborhood, where relatives and neighbors gathered to pay their respects.
The roof of the tutoring center collapsed on Tuesday while classes were underway, killing 14 children and injuring eight others, who remained hospitalized in stable condition, police said.
Senior police official Kamran Faisal said investigators were examining whether negligence during ongoing construction work and poor building conditions contributed to the collapse. Preliminary findings indicated the tutoring center was operating in an aging structure, and investigators believe an unfinished second-floor roof may have failed because of substandard construction.
"We are still investigating to determine exactly whose negligence resulted in this tragic incident," Faisal said. Police have arrested at least two people, including the building owner, as the investigation continues.
Among those attending the funerals was laborer Mohammad Ashfaq, who lost both his seven-year-old son and a nephew in the collapse.
"I cannot express my pain and grief in words," Ashfaq said as relatives comforted him. Another parent, Muhammad Farooq, said his daughter had gone to her tuition class shortly before the roof gave way, adding that family members learned of the collapse through a phone call.
Residents said neighbors were the first to begin rescue efforts before emergency crews arrived, using shovels and their hands to dig through the debris in an attempt to reach trapped children.
The accident has renewed scrutiny of building safety standards in Pakistan, where collapses occur periodically because of weak enforcement of construction regulations, the use of substandard materials and unauthorized building work, according to officials and local residents. Some residents accused the tutoring center's operators of continuing classes despite ongoing construction and called for those found responsible to face legal action.
Authorities said the criminal investigation remains underway and that responsibility for the collapse will be determined after forensic and engineering assessments are completed.
