Relief cheques worth Rs21 million have been handed over to the families of children killed when a school roof collapsed in Peshawar’s Dir Colony, officials said.
Deputy Commissioner Peshawar Dr Afaq Wazir spent the day with the bereaved families and distributed the financial assistance cheques to the parents of the deceased children, acting on the orders of the Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Revenue officials and other members of the district administration were present during the distribution.
Families who had travelled to other districts to bury their loved ones will receive their cheques when they return, the district administration said. Teams are also verifying the lists of injured children so that financial assistance can reach every injured child within a day.
Dr Wazir said the district administration stood with the grieving families in their hour of trial and would continue to support them. The governor had earlier announced Rs1 million in assistance for the family of each person killed in the collapse, along with financial support for the injured.
The collapse struck the Al-Khair private school in Dir Colony last week, killing dozens of children and a teacher and injuring scores more. Rescue teams worked through the rubble for hours after the roof gave way during the school day.
Police have registered a case against the school’s owners, co-owners and contractor. The complaint alleges that substandard construction materials were used in the building and that earlier warnings from pupils about cracking walls and ceilings were ignored. The school’s owner had earlier been taken into custody as the investigation began.
Authorities have also ordered inspections of private school buildings across the province, with teams asked to examine roofs, walls, foundations and other structural elements and to identify dangerous buildings. A committee is investigating the collapse and is expected to fix responsibility for the tragedy.
Read our earlier report: FIR filed against owners and builder over the Peshawar school collapse.
