Indonesian authorities on Tuesday ended rescue operations at the site of a collapsed Islamic boarding school in East Java after confirming the deaths of 61 people, making it the country’s deadliest disaster so far this year.
The Al Khoziny Islamic boarding school in the town of Sidoarjo crumbled last week during afternoon prayers, trapping students and teachers beneath the debris. Most of the victims were teenage boys. Officials said foundational failures were to blame for the collapse.
“Operations due to the collapsed structure of the Al Khoziny school are officially closed,” said Mohammad Syafii, chief of the East Java search and rescue agency, as workers finished clearing debris from the site.
Rescuers retrieved 61 bodies and seven body parts that police are now working to identify, according to the national disaster mitigation agency.
Deputy rescue chief Budi Irawan said some of the recovered remains included severed limbs, underscoring the scale of destruction caused by the collapse. “It was a heartbreaking operation,” he said.
Throughout the weeklong search, rescue teams used excavators and cranes to remove concrete slabs, while others crawled through narrow spaces, calling out names of those feared trapped alive.
Authorities said the school, one of over 42,000 Islamic boarding schools known as pesantren across Indonesia, may have been operating without a proper construction permit.
Local media quoted Sidoarjo district chief Subandi as saying last week that Al Khoziny allegedly lacked one, though Reuters was unable to confirm this or reach school officials for comment.
The collapse has renewed scrutiny of building safety standards in Indonesia, where poor construction practices and weak enforcement have often contributed to deadly accidents.
Source: Reuters
Written By Rodney Mbua
