The death toll from the collapse of a school building in Indonesia’s East Java province has risen to 14, local authorities confirmed on Saturday.
By Friday evening, rescuers had recovered nine more bodies, according to Tholeb Vatelehan, senior communication official of the East Java Search and Rescue Office. Nearly 50 people remain missing, and officials have warned that the death toll may continue to rise.
The multi-storey Al Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in Sidoarjo district partially collapsed on Monday during unauthorised renovation work, trapping dozens of students. Earlier efforts by rescuers relied mainly on manual excavation to avoid further structural damage, but heavy machinery was deployed on Thursday after no signs of life were detected.
Suharyanto, head of Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency, said high-tech equipment such as thermal drones was used, but no additional survivors were found. Hundreds of rescuers from various agencies continue to work at the site, while authorities investigate the cause of the collapse.
Most of the students trapped were boys in grades seven to 12, aged between 12 and 19. Female students had been in another part of the building and managed to escape. Officials noted that although the school was initially two storeys, additional floors were being added without permits, and the old foundation could not support the extra concrete, leading to the collapse.
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