NAROWAL, May 7: Five schoolgirls died and 30 others suffered serious injuries when the roof of a classroom in a private school in Shakargarh collapsed on Monday.

There were 40 girls and boys in the classroom on the first floor of the Charaghia Model School at the time of the accident.

It is said that roof caved in because of heavy load of construction material stored on it by the builder of an adjacent under-construction building.

Local people rushed to the place to rescue the children. They were soon followed by Rescue 1122 personnel who took the injured children to the Tehsil Headquarters hospital. Four girls died on the spot and the fifth in the hospital. They were identified as Khadija, Ayesha, Marriam, Laiqa and Hamail. They were nine to 11 years old. The condition of six of the injured children was said to be critical and, according to the hospital’s Medical Superintendent Dr Mohammad Rafique, they were sent to Lahore.

Narowal DCO Ali Ahmed Kamboh and District Police Officer Malik Sikandar Hayat said that legal action against the owner of the school and the builder would be taken on the complaint of aggrieved parents.