Dawn Images

Heartbreaking news emerged from Lahore on Tuesday after the roof of a tuition centre collapsed while classes were underway, killing 14 children. Twenty people were trapped under the collapsed roof, according to the Punjab health minister, and a number of victims were dug out of the rubble and taken to hospitals — some in critical condition.

The tuition centre was being run in a house in the suburb of Kahna. Construction work was being done on the house when the roof caved in.

Naturally, this inspired an outpouring of grief, with users on X praying for the lost souls and sending messages of strength to their grieving parents.

More than just grief, there was anger at the conditions and negligence that had made this incident possible.

Netizens called for accountability, demanding that those responsible for this incident be punished.

One user asked where children were safe in Pakistan, especially after a series of high-profile incidents of violence against children shook the nation recently.

Another asked what children so young — the youngest victim was five years old — were doing at a tuition centre in the first place. Had our system really failed so badly at educating children that we had to send such little kids to tuition centres after school?

In a statement issued at 7pm on Tuesday, the Lahore Police said rescue efforts had concluded. The statement added that two people, including the house owner, had been taken into custody as part of the initial investigation.

Lahore Deputy Inspector General Operations Faisal Kamran confirmed to Dawn that the other person under arrest was a contractor who had worked on the house.

Roof and building collapses are tragically common in Pakistan, with an incident in Muzaffargarh on Monday killing two young sisters and injuring their cousin. Earlier this month, the roof of an under-construction room collapsed in Faisalabad’s Jaranwala tehsil, claiming the lives of three members of a family.