Three dead, dozens trapped after the school collapses the students

Rescuers compete to withdraw dozens of students and workers from under the ruins of a school building, which fell into Eastern Java, Indonesia.

Three people were killed and 99 other hospitalized, some of them with critical injuries, staff said on Tuesday, adding that the death number could rise.

At least 38 others, many teenage boys remain trapped under the Al Hosini Islamic boarding house in the eastern Java city of Sidoaro. They had gathered for prayers when the building gave way to Monday.

The two -storey building had an unstable base and could not support the weight of two more floors, the disaster mitigation agency said.

The girls prayed to another part of the building and managed to escape, according to the Associated Press.

The students at the school are between the ages of 12 and 17.

Shots in the local media show the collapsed part of the building, completely sunk, with large concrete slabs.

Crying and shouting can be heard from the ruins, the authorities said, while the anxious relatives camp at the school overnight in anticipation of news for their loved ones.

Dozens of rescuers are looking for survivors overnight, but rescue was temporarily suspended on Tuesday, with authorities claiming that the building is at risk of a further collapse.

The collapsed building has acquired a “pancake type structure with layers of concrete slabs, leaving only narrow gaps, unstable conditions and the possibility of survivors still caught,” says Mohammed Sieafi, head of the Basarnas Search and Rescue Agency.

His agency is preparing for a “specialized operation” and has units from the whole region that will be equipped with “special retrieval” tools, he said.

Syafeii also exposed the dilemma with the use of heavy equipment such as cranes and excavators. Although they help to raise concrete slabs and open access, “shifting the plates can also endanger the lives of survivors that are still caught under the ruins,” he said.

Rosida, whose son Kafa Ahmad Maulana is among the missing, said she was waiting for news on Monday night.

“I last talked to him the day before the incident and nothing seemed unusual during this conversation,” the 47-year-old said. Another of her children, who has also been affected by the collapse, is treated in a hospital.

Students who survived the incident tell their excruciating escapes to local media.

Seventh -grader Mohammed Ridzhalul Qoib said hundreds of people gathered to pray when they hear the sound of falling rocks.

“He got stronger and stronger,” the 13-year-old youth told Detikjatim, adding that he immediately ran out.

He was struck by the falling debris on the roof, but managed to climb the ruins.

Another student, SOFA, told Kompas that he saw students with “many injuries”. “There were also broken bones,” he said.

The car carrier KH Abdus Salam Mujib apologized to the students’ families on Monday, attributing the incident of “God’s Will”. “Let’s hope God will replace him with something better,” he said.

The regent of the city of Sidoaro claims that the school management has not received permits to expand the building.

Al Hosini is a traditional Islamic boarding school in Indonesia, known as Pesantren.

Traditionally, Pesantren focuses on Islamic research, such as the memorization of the Qur’an, the study of Arabic and Islamic law, but many also offer a general education.

Unlike regular schools, Pesantren is under the authority of the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Indonesia, not the Ministry of Education.

However, supervision is often limited. Many pesantine work unofficially, without strong adjustment or constant monitoring.

The construction sector of Indonesia has a bad safety record, with the International Labor Organization evaluating it among the highest worldwide.

Earlier this month, at least four people were killed, and dozens of wounded when a building in which people had gathered for a prayer recital, they suddenly collapsed in Western Java.