Rescuers are racing to pull dozens of students and workers from under the rubble of a school building that collapsed in East Java, Indonesia. Three people have been killed and 99 others hospitalised, some of them with critical injuries, officials said Tuesday, adding that the death toll may rise. At least 38 others, many of them teenage boys, remain trapped under the Al Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in the East Java town of Sidoarjo. They had gathered for prayers when the building gave way on Monday.
The two-storey building had an unstable foundation and could not support the weight of the construction of two more floors, the disaster mitigation agency said. Authorities reported that the girls were praying in another part of the building and managed to escape, while students aged 12 to 17 are still accounted for.
Footage on local media shows the collapsed part of the building completely sunken in, with large slabs of concrete sticking out. Crying and shouting were noted by authorities as anxious relatives camped outside the school, awaiting news of their loved ones. Rescuers have been tirelessly searching for survivors; however, operations were temporarily suspended on Tuesday due to concerns about further collapse.
The collapsed building has taken on a pancake-type structure with layers of concrete slabs leaving only narrow voids, unstable conditions, and the possibility of survivors trapped, according to Mohammad Syafeii, the head of the search and rescue agency Basarnas. He mentioned the dilemma of using heavy equipment, which could inadvertently threaten the lives of anyone still trapped beneath.
Survivors recounted their harrowing experiences, with one student saying they heard falling rocks before running outside. Another student described seeing fellow classmates with numerous injuries and broken bones. The school's caretaker expressed condolences to families, attributing the incident to divine will, while local authorities noted that the school management had not secured permits for the building's expansion.
Indonesia's construction sector has a known poor safety record, with many buildings lacking the necessary oversight.
The two-storey building had an unstable foundation and could not support the weight of the construction of two more floors, the disaster mitigation agency said. Authorities reported that the girls were praying in another part of the building and managed to escape, while students aged 12 to 17 are still accounted for.
Footage on local media shows the collapsed part of the building completely sunken in, with large slabs of concrete sticking out. Crying and shouting were noted by authorities as anxious relatives camped outside the school, awaiting news of their loved ones. Rescuers have been tirelessly searching for survivors; however, operations were temporarily suspended on Tuesday due to concerns about further collapse.
The collapsed building has taken on a pancake-type structure with layers of concrete slabs leaving only narrow voids, unstable conditions, and the possibility of survivors trapped, according to Mohammad Syafeii, the head of the search and rescue agency Basarnas. He mentioned the dilemma of using heavy equipment, which could inadvertently threaten the lives of anyone still trapped beneath.
Survivors recounted their harrowing experiences, with one student saying they heard falling rocks before running outside. Another student described seeing fellow classmates with numerous injuries and broken bones. The school's caretaker expressed condolences to families, attributing the incident to divine will, while local authorities noted that the school management had not secured permits for the building's expansion.
Indonesia's construction sector has a known poor safety record, with many buildings lacking the necessary oversight.
