Indonesia: Parents and rescuers in Indonesia are frantically searching for dozens of teenage boys believed to be trapped after an Islamic boarding school building collapsed in Sidoarjo. The disaster has so far claimed three lives.
The Al Khoziny school building collapsed on Monday afternoon while pupils were holding prayers in a mosque located on the lower floor. The upper floors of the building were still under construction at the time. Authorities reported that 91 people remain missing, while 99 children and staff have been accounted for.
Rescue teams have recovered three bodies, and officials said signs of life have been detected under the debris. “We used a camera and were able to detect six victims who showed signs of life,” said Nanang Sigit, head of the local rescue agency.
Families gathered at the site, anxiously searching a list of survivors. Relatives shared emotional accounts of calling out to their missing children through the rubble.
Excavators and cranes have been deployed to assist rescuers, but officials are avoiding the use of heavy equipment in some areas to prevent further collapse. Twenty-six of the injured are receiving treatment at local hospitals.
Authorities said the collapse was caused by foundation pillars failing to support the weight of additional construction on the fourth floor. Abdul Muhari, spokesperson for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNBP), called for stricter building safety standards and better oversight of construction work.
Construction at the school had been ongoing for the past nine months, according to local media reports. The incident has highlighted concerns over lax construction standards in Indonesia, where it is common to leave buildings partially completed for future expansion.
This is the latest in a series of building collapses in the country. Earlier this month, a prayer hall in West Java collapsed, killing three people. In 2018, seven teenagers died when a building in Cirebon collapsed, and the same year, at least 75 people were injured when a mezzanine floor at Indonesia’s stock exchange in Jakarta fell into the lobby.
