At least three students were killed, dozens injured, and 91 are still presumed to be buried in the rubble of a school building in Indonesia that collapsed on Monday.
The under-construction, multi-storeyed building of the Al Khoziny Islamic boarding school in the East Java town of Sidoarjo collapsed when more than 100 students had assembled for afternoon prayers, reported a state news agency.
As rescuers rushed to the site of the collapse, they were able to evacuate more than 79 students, East Java police spokesman, Jules Abraham Abast, was quoted as saying.
Jules said that the police was “actively communicating with relevant parties”, including the school authorities, to establish the exact number of victims “who are still or may still be trapped in the rubble.”
A notice board at the command post set up in the boarding school complex listed at least one male student, a 13-year-old boy, as having been killed and 99 other students injured, some of them in critical condition, officials said.
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The missing students are mostly boys in grades seven to 11, between the ages of 12 and 17. Female students praying in another part of the building managed to escape, survivors said.
Abdus Salam Mujib, one of the heads of the school, said the school already had three flours, with plans to have the fourth floor. The building collapsed after workers poured concrete for the third floor. Mujib added that while the upper levels of the school were being used for classrooms and student activities, the lower floor was the prayer room.
Meanwhile, rescuers ran oxygen and water to students trapped in the concrete rubble as they desperately worked to free survivors Tuesday morning, more than 12 hours after the structure fell. With weak and injured survivors being pulled out, rescuers say the death toll was likely to rise as they could see several bodies under the rubble but were focused on saving those who were still alive.
Families of the students gathered at hospitals or near the collapsed building, anxiously awaiting news of their children while relatives wailed as they watched rescuers pull out the injured.
Heavy slabs of concrete and other rubble and unstable parts of the building hampered search and rescue efforts, said Nanang Sigit, a search and rescue officer who lead the effort. Heavy equipment was available but not being used due to concerns that it could cause further collapse.
“We have been running oxygen and water to those still trapped under the debris and keeping them alive while we work hard to get them out,” Sigit said.
While Jules said the expansion of the building was unauthorised, authorities were investigating the cause of the collapse. Abast also said the old prayer hall was two stories but two more were being added without a permit.
“The old building’s foundation was apparently unable to support two floors of concrete and collapsed during the pouring process,” Abast said.
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