Pakistani authorities ordered inspections of all private educational institutions in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the collapse of a school roof killed 34 students and a teacher.
The provincial administration, run directly from Islamabad, announced an investigation into the cause of Thursday's collapse at Al-Khair School as the families of victims demanded justice.
At least one family member said he had warned the school owner about leaks, according to reports.
Syed Aamir Abdullah, member of the provincial advisory council for education, directed officials to review safety rules and regulations at educational institutions across the province.
The education department will establish district committees to inspect private school buildings and submit findings and recommendations within three days, according to the order.
The inspections will cover premises that are owned as well as those that are rented. Specific areas to check include roofs, ceilings, walls, columns, beams, foundations, and staircases. Districts must require urgent technical assessment and classify school buildings as safe, in need of repairs or improvements, or potentially unsafe.
“The survey will assess the existing condition of buildings and the effectiveness of safety arrangements, identify potential hazards and help ensure necessary measures for the safety of students,” Mr Abdullah said, according to Dawn.
Most of the students who died in the roof collapse were 14 or younger, officials said, as rescuers spent hours clearing debris from the privately run school in Dir Colony, a densely populated neighbourhood.
The ceiling of the three-storey building caved in where around 300 students were believed to be studying, with around 100 in three classrooms which were damaged in the tragedy, officials said.
Police subsequently arrested the school's owner, Mohammad Khan.
Peshawar police chief Saeed Ahmed said the building was structurally weak and Mr Khan told officers recent rains had weakened one of the roofs.
Police said that the collapsed roof was a traditional structure made of mud and bricks and some of the children trapped beneath died of suffocation.
Rescuers pulled at least 40 children alive from the debris, said Bilal Faizi, spokesperson for emergency services in Peshawar.
Mahwish Zaman, a teacher who was injured, said the collapse happened so suddenly that no one had time to escape.
She described being in her classroom when she heard a loud crash from the floor above. Before she could warn her students to run to safety, the ceiling fell in.
She was unconscious when she was taken to hospital and later learned many of her students had died.
Residents visited families of the victims, many of whom lived in the Dir Colony neighbourhood.
Zakir Ullah lost both sons, Abu Bakr and Mohammad, who were in the same classroom.
His daughter was in a different class and ran home after the collapse to tell the family the school had fallen. They rushed back with her and found the boys' classroom buried under rubble, he said.
Nothing was visible beneath the debris, said Mr Ullah, who described the building as weak and demanded punishment for any officials who authorized its use as a school.
"How could I have known this would take both my sons from me?" he said.
The tragedy has once again raised concerns about building safety in Pakistan, where construction standards are often poorly enforced, and substandard materials are frequently used.
In July, a roof collapsed at a tutoring centre in Lahore, killing 14 schoolchildren. At the time, police attributed the incident to poor construction quality and the collapse of an unfinished upper floor.
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