Death toll from Indonesian school collapse rises to 61 as more bodies recovered
Indonesia,: Rescue teams in Indonesia recovered 12 more bodies on Monday as the search continued for missing students following the collapse of a prayer hall at an Islamic boarding school last week, raising the death toll to 61.
The structure at the century-old Al Khoziny School in Sidoarjo, East Java, gave way on September 29 while students—mostly boys aged 12 to 19—were performing afternoon prayers. The building was reportedly undergoing an unauthorised expansion at the time.
According to officials, only one student escaped unharmed. Ninety-nine others were treated for injuries and later discharged, while four students remain hospitalised with serious injuries after undergoing amputations.
With no signs of survivors three days after the disaster, authorities deployed heavy excavators to speed up recovery operations. On Monday, the National Disaster Management Agency reported that rescuers had retrieved 12 more bodies and several body parts from the rubble, while the search continued for two students still unaccounted for.
Officials said many of the bodies were difficult to identify due to their condition. Relatives have been providing DNA samples at the Bhayangkara Police Hospital in Surabaya, East Java’s capital, to assist in the identification process.
Disaster Victims Identification teams confirmed that 17 victims had been positively identified and their bodies handed over to families for burial.
