14 children killed after roof collapse in Pakistan

LAHORE, Pakistan — Mourners gathered on Wednesday in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore to bury 14 schoolchildren who were killed when the roof of a tutoring center collapsed on Tuesday.

Police are investigating whether negligence during ongoing construction work caused the collapse that left another eight children injured and hospitalized in stable condition.

Residents and preliminary police findings indicate the tutoring center was operating in an aging building. Investigators believe the unfinished second-floor roof may have collapsed because of poor construction.

At least two people, including the building owner, were arrested as investigators tried to determine who was responsible, senior police official Faisal Kamran said, adding that negligence by the owner and construction workers appears to have caused the collapse.

"We are still investigating to determine exactly whose negligence resulted in this tragic incident," he said.

Funeral prayers for the children, who were up to 14 years old, began before dawn and continued through Wednesday morning. Most of the victims were buried in a local graveyard, while some families planned to take the bodies to their native towns for burial.

Ambulances transported the victims' bodies overnight to their homes in Kahna, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Lahore. As the bodies were returned to their families, cries echoed through the neighborhood. Mothers and female relatives sat beside the bodies throughout the night while classmates and friends of the victims stood nearby in tears.

Grief has turned to anger for some people. Residents blamed the owner of the tutoring center for holding classes in what they described as an old, unsafe building despite ongoing construction and demanded strict punishment for those responsible.

AGENCIES VIA XINHUA