UMERKOT: Three girls, aged 3 to 13, were killed after a portion of the outer wall of a government primary school collapsed and the rubble fell on them in the Gamoori Kori locality near Umerkot on Tuesday.

The girls were returning home aft­er attending a nearby seminary. Whi­le they were passing by the wall, it suddenly collapsed, locals said, adding that the girls died before they could be rescued from under the rubble.

The girls were identified as Sughra, 13, daughter of Abubakar Kori; Rabia, 4, daughter of Mohamad Farooq, and Kaneeza, 3.

Residents and family members rushed them to the Umerkot Civil Hospital, where doctors pronounced them dead on arrival.

They were returning home from a nearby seminary when the incident took place

The bodies were handed over to the heirs after legal formalities.

Locals told journalists that that the entire structure of the Govt Boys Primary School, Gamoori, had become dangerously affected in the 2022 flood in Sindh.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and Sindh Education Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah took a serious notice of the incident after which the provincial government ordered an inquiry into it and legal action against those found responsible for the tragedy.

The education minister expressed his profound grief over the girls’ deaths and directed officials of his department to visit the site and submit a detailed report.

He noted that the school building had already been declared affected after the flood. He recalled that earlier under the 2019-20 budget, the maintenance, repair and expansion works had been carried out but the building was again severely damaged during the 2022 flood.

He pointed out that nearly 20,000 government schools across Sindh had been damaged in the flood.

Former MNA and a Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Lal Malhi described the girls’ deaths as a result of administrative failure, corruption, negligence, poor planning and mismanagement on the part of the provincial government.

In his video statement, he said “the incident is not an accident, but the consequence of years of institutional failure”. He conveyed his condolences to the bereaved families and urged the government to provide immediate financial assistance to them.

He also called for a judicial inquiry into the incident and registration of a criminal case against the officials and contractors concerned.

Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) Sindh Vice President Faqeer Khizar Hayat Mangrio said in his statement that the incident “reflects criminal negligence” on the part of the education department and Sindh government.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2026