Families in East Java are facing heartbreaking hours as they wait for news of their loved ones after the collapse of an Islamic boarding school in Sidoarjo. The Al-Khoziny school building came down on Tuesday afternoon while pupils were offering prayers inside. Authorities reported that 91 people, most of them teenage boys, remain missing under the rubble.
The school building housed a mosque on the lower floor, while construction work continued on the upper floors. Disaster officials said the structure’s foundations may not have been strong enough to support the fourth floor, which was under development. The collapse left families crying outside the ruins, many holding pictures of missing children as they searched the lists of survivors.
By late evening, three bodies had been pulled out, while 99 people, including children and workers, managed to survive. Rescue workers continued digging carefully through massive piles of concrete, using excavators and cranes but avoiding heavy machinery too close to the collapse site. Officials feared that the remaining structure could still fall, making the rescue even more dangerous.
Parents and relatives described moments of panic and despair. Holy Abdullah Arif, 49, wept while clutching his phone with a picture of his nephew, Rosi. He rushed into the rubble calling out for the boy. “I thought I heard him, but it was another child crying for help,” he said, recalling the terrifying moment. Families stood anxiously near a whiteboard showing names of those who had survived, praying to see their children listed.
Rescue teams reported that 26 injured victims were receiving treatment at local hospitals. Abdul Muhari, spokesperson for the disaster mitigation agency, confirmed that efforts to locate the missing were still underway. He stressed that conditions remained dangerous and slow, with the safety of rescuers also at risk.
The Antara state news agency quoted school caretaker Abdus Salam Mujib, who said that construction work had ended earlier in the day but the foundations could not bear the added weight of the new floors. Investigators are now looking into whether poor construction practices or weak foundations were responsible for the disaster.
This tragedy has once again raised concerns about building safety standards in Indonesia, a country where rapid construction often comes under scrutiny. Families of the victims continue to wait in anguish, hoping that their children will be found alive in the rubble.
For more on Indonesia’s building safety challenges, visit Wikipedia. Global coverage of the disaster can be followed on BBC and Al Jazeera.
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