SIDOARJO, Indonesia: Rescuers in Indonesia continue searching for missing students after a prayer hall at an Islamic boarding school collapsed nearly a week ago. Over the weekend, teams recovered 23 bodies, bringing the death toll to 37.
Using jackhammers, circular saws, and sometimes their bare hands, rescue workers sifted through rubble to locate the 26 students still unaccounted for. The two-story structure collapsed on September 30 at the century-old Al Khoziny school in Sidoarjo, on Java’s eastern coast, burying hundreds of students—mostly boys aged 12 to 19. Only one student escaped unharmed, while 95 others were treated and released. Eight students remain hospitalized with serious injuries.
Authorities said the collapse occurred after two unauthorized floors were added to the building, sparking outrage over illegal construction practices in Indonesia. “The construction couldn’t support the load during the third-floor concrete pour because it didn’t meet standards, causing the entire 800-square-meter structure to collapse,” explained Mudji Irmawan, a construction expert at the Tenth November Institute of Technology. He also noted that students should not have been inside a building under construction.
Sidoarjo district chief Subandi confirmed that the school’s management had not applied for the required building permit. “Many structures, including boarding school extensions in rural areas, are built without permits,” he told The Associated Press.
Indonesia’s 2002 Building Construction Code mandates permits for all construction projects. Violations can result in fines, imprisonment, and, if deaths occur, up to 15 years in prison and fines of 8 billion rupiah (around USD 500,000).
Abdus Salam Mujib, the school’s caretaker and a respected Islamic cleric in East Java, publicly apologized following the incident. “This is God’s will. We must be patient and trust that God will reward those affected,” he said.
Criminal investigations involving Muslim clerics are highly sensitive in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation. School officials have not commented since the collapse.
“We will conduct a thorough investigation,” said East Java Police Chief Nanang Avianto. “Our inquiry will include guidance from construction experts to determine whether negligence by the school contributed to these deaths.”
