Rescuers in East Java are racing against time to find 91 people missing after a building at an Islamic boarding school collapsed on Tuesday. Three bodies have been recovered, and 99 students and staff survived the incident at the Al Khoziny school in Sidoarjo.
The collapse occurred during late-afternoon prayers in a mosque on the lower floor of a building whose upper floors were under construction. Families gathered at the site, clutching lists of survivors and searching for their children.
Holy Abdullah Arif, 49, described his frantic search for his nephew Rosi, still missing. He said, 'I ran around screaming, “Rosi! Rosi! If you can hear me and can move, get out!” And then a child was screaming back from the rubble.'
An excavator and crane have been deployed, but authorities are avoiding heavy equipment for fear of causing further collapse. The national disaster mitigation agency said the building's foundations may not have supported the weight of construction on the fourth floor.
A school caretaker, Abdus Salam Mujib, told Antara state news agency that building work had ended for the day before prayers, but the foundations could not support the construction above. Twenty-six of the injured remain in hospital.
