Pakistan roof collapse kills 14 children at tutoring centre

Local officials said preliminary reports showed the centre was unregistered and operating inside a privately owned residential building Fourteen children died after ⁠the roof of a tutoring centre collapsed in Pakistan’s eastern city of ⁠Lahore on Tuesday, ⁠rescue ​officials have said, as authorities opened the way for a possible negligence ⁠investigation. Punjab’s emergency service said rescuers found children and a 30-year-old female teacher ⁠under the rubble of the private after-school facility. The ​children killed were aged ‌five to ‌16 with most below nine. Punjab information minister ‌Azma Bokhari said preliminary reports showed the tutoring centre was unregistered and operating inside a privately owned residential building under a dilapidated roof. Such centres are common across Pakistan, where ‌children attend extra lessons outside regular school hours. “If negligence, carelessness or any ​violation of the law is established, those responsible will face strict legal action,” Bokhari said in a statement. Workers had been repairing tiles on the building when the roof gave way, a witness told the AFP news agency. Broadcaster Geo News aired images of uniformed rescuers and civi