Image source, ReutersIt’s now nearing 16:00 in East Java, Indonesia – more than 24 hours since the Al-Khoziny Islamic Boarding School collapsed while hundreds of students had gathered for prayer.
If you are just joining us, here’s what we have been reporting:
- Three students were killed and 99 others are in hospital, some being treated for critical injuries Rescuers are still racing to find 38 people believed to be trappedin the rubble
- However,the rescue has been temporarily suspended because the collapsed building remains unstable and at risk of further collapses
- Earlier, the National Search and Rescue Agency said it is preparing for a”specialised operation” as the nature of the collapse has made their efforts challenging
- Crying and shouting can be heard from the rubble, authorities say, while anxious relatives have camped out at the school overnight awaiting news of their loved ones
- The two-storey building was under construction when it gave way. Authorities said it had an unstable foundation and could not support the weight of additional construction
- The school is a pesantren – a traditional Islamic boarding school in Indonesia. Many pesantrens operate informally, without strong regulation or consistent monitoring. Students in this pesantren are between the ages of 12 and 17
We are pausing our live coverage. Thank you for joining us. Read the full story here.
Rosida’s 15-year-old son, Kafa Ahmad Maulana is among dozens missing. Her other son survived the collapse at the Al-Khoziny Islamic Boarding School and is being treated at the Delta Suria Hospital.
She says she arrived at the school at around 19:00 local time Monday after friends told her what had happened.
“I last spoke with him the day before the incident, and nothing seemed unusual during that conversation,” she tells the BBC.
Shruti Menon
BBC Verify
Image source, XWe have verified a video, external showing the roof and upper structure of
the school building caved in, leaving corrugated iron, concrete and other
rubble scattered over a wide area.
In the footage we can also see people, several of whom appear to
be distressed, waiting on one side of the debris as rescue workers search for
survivors.
It has been filmed from above on what seems to be a balcony
adjacent to the collapsed building, as other people look down on the
wreckage.
The surrounding rooftops and buildings visible in the video
allowed us to confirm the partially collapsed building was Al-Khoziny Islamic Boarding School,
after comparing it with satellite imagery and other pictures published by news
agencies.
No permits have been issued for the expansion of the two-storey boarding school, claims Subandi, the regent of Sidoarjo town.
Workers had poured concrete for the third floor, but “the construction was not up to standard… so the whole thing collapsed,” Subandi told Indonesia’s Kompas TV on Monday.
There have been past cases of Islamic boarding schools building their mosques and boarding houses “straight away, and only then do they get the permits,” he claims.
Rony Fauzan
BBC News Indonesia, reporting from Sidoarjo
I’m here at the Al-Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in Sidoarjo, where I’m seeing a steady flow of activity from search and rescue personnel and officials from various agencies. It is very crowded here – officials remain on high alert while the waiting families are visibly worried.
For now, however, the rescue has been temporarily suspended. Earlier, East Java Police’s Chief Inspector General Nanang Avianto said this is because the collapsed building remains unstable and at risk of further movement. Heavy equipment has been brought to the site.
When I tried to approach the family residence of the pesantren’s caretakers, I was not able to gain access.
The building’s collapse during Asar prayers yesterday has turned this place into a scene of tragedy. Locals are still gathered here, while many anxious parents of students are waiting for news about their children.
Everyone is anxiously awaiting the green light to resume the search.
Now more information on the student who has died in the disaster.
Local media have identified him as Maulana Alvan Ibrahimavic.
Police escorted his body to the funeral home on Monday night, the police chief of Blega district – the student’s hometown – told local media.
Prayers were conducted and the student was buried in the early hours of Tuesday.
Police say the victim recently graduated from elementary school and enrolled in the Islamic boarding school about four months ago.
Search and rescue operations are being carried out “continuously” to “make the most of the golden time to save lives,” the agency said.
It called for the public’s support and prayers, and also thanked all 332 people from 56 agencies that have been involved in the emergency response so far.
More from the rescue agency’s update. It lays out its dilemma with the use of heavy equipment, such as cranes and excavators.
Technically, these tools help lift the concrete slabs and open access.
“However, shifting the slabs may also endanger the lives of survivors still trapped beneath the rubble,” said Mohammad Syafeii, head of the rescue agency Basarnas.
Image source, EPAWe’ve just gotten an update from the National Search and Rescue Agency, saying that a “specialised operation” is needed as the nature of the collapse has made search and rescue efforts challenging.
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 still trapped,” said Mohammad Syafeii, head of the agency Basarnas.
The agency has deployed a group from its headquarters that’s equipped with “special extrication tools”. This team will be reinforced with search and rescue units from Semarang and Yogyakarta, he said.
Image source, Getty ImagesStudents who survived the incident have recounting their harrowing escapes to local media.
Seventh grader Muhammad Rijalul Qoib said hundreds of people had gathered to pray when they heard the sound of falling rocks.
“It got louder and louder,” the 13-year-old told detikJatim, adding that he immediately ran outside.
He was hit by falling roof debris, but managed to climb out of the rubble.
Another student, Sofa, told Kompas he saw students with “lots of injuries”. “There were also broken bones,” he said.
The school’s caretaker KH Abdus Salam Mujib apologised to the students’ families on Monday, attributing the incident to “God’s will”. “Hopefully, God will replace it with something better,” he said.
Nanang Sigit, the chief of Surabaya’s search and rescue agency, says they believe there are survivors in the collapsed building because they heard “crying and shouting”.
“But we need to be vigilant and tread carefully, because the condition
of the collapsed building is unstable,” he said.
As we’ve been reporting, rescuers are searching for 38 people trapped under the rubble.
Astudestra Ajengrastri
BBC News Indonesia
Al Khoziny, the school which collapsed on Monday, is a pesantren – a traditional Islamic boarding school in Indonesia.
Enrolled students live, study, and practice religion under the guidance of a religious teacher.
Traditionally, pesantren focus on Islamic studies, such as memorising the Quran, learning Arabic and Islamic law.
But now many pesantren also offer general education.
Unlike regular schools, pesantren fall under the authority of Indonesia’s Ministry of Religious Affairs, not the Ministry of Education.
Oversight is often limited. Many pesantren operate informally, without strong regulation or consistent monitoring.
The religious affairs ministry’s East Java office said on Tuesday that the collapse was a lesson about safety standards on the construction of religious schools.
The ministry, which expressed its “deepest condolences”, also pledged to strictly monitor government assistance to the disaster’s victims.
Here are some pictures of what has unfolded since the building collapsed on Monday. Rescuers have been racing against time to find survivors, but large pieces of rubble are hindering their search efforts. Earlier today, the search was temporarily suspended because the collapsed concrete shook again.
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Indonesia’s National Disaster Management AgencyTwo more students who were injured in the collapse have died in the hospital, Surabaya’s search and rescue agency has confirmed.
This brings the death toll up to three.
We’ll continue to bring you the latest updates as we get them.
You’ll see here
that the collapsed part of the building has completely sunken in, with large
slabs of concrete sticking out from the rubble. Rescuers have been working
overnight to find survivors.
At least 38
people, many of them teenage boys, are believed to be 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.
The
two-storey building had an unstable foundation and could not support the weight
of the additional construction of two more floors, the disaster mitigation
agency said on Tuesday.
The girls
were praying in another part of the building and managed to escape, according
to the Associated Press.
Students in
the school are between the ages of 12 and 17.
Rescuers in
Indonesia are racing to free dozens of students and workers trapped under
rubble after a school building that collapsed while undergoing construction on Monday.
A 13-year-old
boy was killed and 101 others were taken to hospitals, some of them with
critical injuries, officials say, adding that the death toll may raise.
We’ll bring
you the latest updates as we get them. Stay with us.