LAHORE: At least four children were killed and 20 people were injured after the roof of a classroom at a private school in Punjab’s Dera Ghazi Khan collapsed on Thursday.

The preliminary report of the incident released by the district administration confirmed the number of casualties. The injured include 16 students, two teachers and as many labourers, according to the report, seen by Dawn.

It said the incident was reported around noon, following which rescue personnel and ambulances were sent to the site. Initial responders reached the site “in four minutes”, it added.

Rescue 1122 spokesperson Farooq Ahmad also told Dawn that rescue and district administration officials, along with local residents, participated in the rescue operation to pull out the students and teachers from under the rubble.

District Education Authority Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Waqas Gill told Dawn that he was also present at the site while the rescue and search operation was under way.

He said all the injured were taken to nearby hospitals.

According to the district administration’s report, probe had revealed that construction for an extension of the school’s building was under way when the roof of the classroom collapsed.

The roof of the room was overloaded as sand and bricks were placed on it, the report said, adding that “the roof could not bear the load and resultantly collapsed”.

Prior to the release of the report, CEO Gill had assured that the incident would be investigated and action would be taken against the school administration for “allegedly compromising students’ safety by carrying out construction work during school hours”.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has also taken notice of the incident and sought a report from the authorities concerned.