3 dead, 12 missing as Indonesian school collapses

International

THE Al Khoziny Islamic boarding school in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia collapsed on Monday afternoon (local time), leaving three confirmed dead and dozens still trapped under the wreckage.

According to Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), the death toll stood at three as of Tuesday evening, while the numbers of missing and injured continued to shift as rescue operations progressed.

At one point, the missing were estimated at 38; later, authorities raised that figure to 91 people still unaccounted for, a report by BBC said.

Rescue teams — over 300 workers, including personnel from BNPB, the military, and police — have been painstakingly digging through concrete slabs and twisted steel to reach survivors. They have detected signs of life beneath the rubble, with at least six victims believed to still be alive and in contact with rescuers.

To maintain safety, heavy machinery has been used cautiously; in some areas, rescuers resorted to passing oxygen, water, and food through narrow gaps to sustain those trapped.

Preliminary investigations point to unauthorised construction as a contributing factor. The school structure was undergoing vertical expansion — adding two extra floors — without proper permits. Authorities say the older foundation could not bear the weight of the added concrete, leading to structural failure during the pouring process.

Many of the victims are teenage boys aged between 12 and 18, who were gathered for afternoon prayers in the lower-level mosque section of the building when the collapse occurred.

Hospitals have admitted dozens of injured students, many suffering broken bones and head wounds; as of the latest count, 26 were still hospitalized.

Families of the missing and injured gathered at the collapse site and nearby hospitals, anxiously watching for updates. Whiteboards listing the names of survivors and those unaccounted for have become focal points of grief-stricken appeals and frantic calls.(Victoria Diana, USJ-R Comm Intern)