28 deaths in Pakistan school roof collapse as rescuers search for trapped children

ISLAMABAD, Oct 15 (Reuters) - At least 27 students, most younger than 13, were killed in Pakistan on ‌Thursday, along with a teacher, when a school ‌roof collapsed during classes in the northwestern city of Peshawar, authorities said, ​warning that the death toll could rise.

Television images showed ambulances rushing to the site at the privately-run Al-Khair Education Center school while rescuers pulled bloodied students from the rubble.

"We have ‌taken out at least ⁠45 children," said district emergency officer Iftikhar Khan, adding that some more children were reported ⁠to be buried in the rubble.

Rescue teams were working to extricate bodies and take the injured to hospital, said government ​official Bilal ​Faizi.

Twenty injured and most of ​the dead were brought ‌to the city's Lady Reading Hospital, its spokesperson, Mohammad Asim, said.

A rescue official said the ceiling came down on the students after the roof of a higher floor collapsed, crumpling the two storeys.

Authorities said an investigation had been ordered ‌to determine the cause.

Peshawar police chief ​Mian Saeed 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."

There was no immediate comment from school officials.

(Reporting by ​Islamabad bureau; Writing by Hritam Mukherjee and YP ​Rajesh; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)