Images released by the emergency services showed rescue workers in high-vis vests scrambling to move debris, rubble and dirt.
AFP journalists saw dozens of people at the scene.
Resident Sher Ahmed said he blamed “substandard construction materials” for the tragedy and called for a probe.
“With profound grief and sorrow, I urge the authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and take strict action against anyone found responsible so that such tragedies can be prevented in the future,” he said.
Prime Minister expresses ‘deep sorrow’
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a statement expressed “deep sorrow and grief over the loss of precious lives”.
“The Prime Minister extends his condolences to the bereaved families and prays for them to have the strength and patience to bear this irreparable loss,” the statement said.
President Asif Ali Zardari branded the roof collapse a “heartbreaking tragedy”.
“In this hour of grief, the entire nation shares the sorrow of the affected families,” he said in a statement.
Roof and building collapses are common across Pakistan, mainly because of poor safety standards and shoddy construction materials in the South Asian nation of more than 240 million people.
In June this year, more than a dozen children were killed in a roof collapse at a tutoring centre in the eastern city of Lahore.
In 2025, 27 people were killed and 10 injured when a five-storey building collapsed in the impoverished area of Lyari in the southern city of Karachi.
– AFP
