Mourners attend funerals for 14 children killed in tutoring center roof collapse 

Women mourn around the bodies of their children, who were killed in the roof collapse at a tutoring center that was under construction on the outskirts of Lahore, Pakistan, yesterday [AP Photo]

Mourners gathered yesterday in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore to bury 14 schoolchildren who were killed when the roof of a tutoring center collapsed on Tuesday.

Police are investigating whether negligence during ongoing construction work caused the collapse that left another eight children injured and hospitalized in stable condition.

Residents and preliminary police findings indicate the tutoring center was operating in an aging building. Investigators believe the unfinished roof of the second floor may have collapsed because of poor construction.

At least two people, including the building owner, were arrested as investigators tried to determine who was responsible, senior police official Kamran Faisal said, adding that negligence by the owner and construction workers appear to have caused the collapse.

“We are still investigating to determine exactly whose negligence resulted in this tragic incident,” Faisal said.

Funeral prayers for the children, who were up to 14 years old, began before dawn and continued through Wednesday morning. Most of the victims were buried in a local graveyard, while some families planned to take the bodies to their native towns for burial.

Ambulances transported the victims’ bodies overnight to their homes in Kahna, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Lahore. As the bodies were returned to their families, cries echoed through the neighborhood. Mothers and female relatives sat beside the bodies throughout the night while classmates and friends of the victims stood nearby in tears.

The funeral mourners Wednesday morning included Mohammad Ashfaq, a laborer whose 7-year-old son and nephew were killed in the collapse.

“I cannot express my pain and grief in words,” Ashfaq said through tears as relatives tried to comfort him.

Nearby, Muhammad Farooq mourned the loss of his young daughter.

“Yesterday she went to her tuition class at around 4 p.m.,” Farooq said. “Around 4:45 p.m., my family called me and said the roof of the tuition center had collapsed. They told me many children were trapped under the debris. Fourteen children were killed, and the injured were taken to the hospital.”

Local resident Mohammad Tahir said neighbors were the first to respond after the roof gave way.

“Rescuers arrived quickly, but before they reached us, neighbors rushed in with shovels and even dug through the debris with their bare hands,” Tahir said. “We also pulled children from the rubble, but many could not be saved.”

Building collapses are common in Pakistan, where construction standards are often poorly enforced. Structures are frequently built with substandard materials and safety regulations are sometimes ignored to reduce costs.

Grief has turned to anger for some people. Residents blamed the owner of the tutoring center for holding classes in what they described as an old and unsafe building despite ongoing construction and demanded strict punishment for those responsible.

“We don’t know whose funeral to attend first or whose home to visit first to offer condolences,” Tahir said. MDT/AP