Sidoarjo: Rescue efforts in Indonesia’s East Java province intensified on Monday as emergency teams continued to dig through the debris of a collapsed Islamic boarding school, where the confirmed death toll has risen to 49. The tragedy struck the Al Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in Sidoarjo, near Surabaya, leaving dozens of young students dead and several others still missing after the four-storey structure crumbled last week.
Authorities reported that the collapse occurred on September 29, when hundreds of students were attending prayers and classes inside the school premises. Since then, rescuers have worked tirelessly amid the wreckage, using heavy machinery, excavators, and even their bare hands to retrieve survivors and recover bodies. According to Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency, 35 additional bodies were found over the weekend, while 14 students remain unaccounted for.
Rescue officials said that 97 students have been rescued alive, many with minor injuries, while six others are in critical condition at local hospitals. Witnesses described scenes of chaos and terror as the building gave way, sending clouds of dust and debris into the air while screams echoed from beneath the rubble. Most of the victims were boys aged between 12 and 19, many of whom were sleeping or attending religious classes when the upper floors collapsed.
Families have been gathering outside the disaster site for days, anxiously awaiting news of their loved ones. The air in Sidoarjo is heavy with grief as funeral prayers continue in nearby villages. Emotional reunions have been punctuated by the somber retrieval of more bodies as hopes of finding additional survivors diminish.
Early investigations suggest that unauthorized construction work may have caused the collapse. Authorities revealed that the school had been undergoing expansion to add two extra floors without obtaining proper building permits. Experts from the Tenth November Institute of Technology (ITS Surabaya) confirmed that the added floors likely exceeded the building’s structural capacity, causing the entire 800-square-meter complex to give way.
“The foundation was never designed to carry the extra load,” said one construction engineer assisting the investigation. “It appears the building materials and design standards did not meet safety regulations.” Local officials also noted that many small religious schools in rural Indonesia often expand without official oversight, relying on community donations and informal labor, making them highly vulnerable to structural failures.
The East Java Police have launched a full investigation to determine whether negligence or criminal conduct played a role in the tragedy. According to Police Chief Nanang Avianto, a team of engineers and forensic specialists will assess whether the collapse resulted from design flaws, weak materials, or illegal construction. “We will not rule out any possibility,” he said, adding that legal action will follow once the investigation concludes.
The district chief of Sidoarjo, Subandi, admitted that the school’s administrators did not possess a valid construction permit. Under Indonesia’s building safety laws, unauthorized construction that leads to death can result in imprisonment and heavy fines. Local residents have since demanded tighter oversight of educational institutions, particularly religious schools known as pesantrens, where thousands of children study and live in basic facilities.
In a rare public statement, the school’s caretaker, Abdus Salam Mujib, expressed deep sorrow over the tragedy and called for patience and prayer among the grieving families. He offered condolences to the victims’ relatives, saying, “We must remain strong and put our trust in God during this time of hardship.”
The Indonesian government has pledged assistance for the affected families and promised stricter enforcement of building codes in educational institutions. President Joko Widodo is expected to visit the site later this week to assess the relief operations and meet the survivors.
As search and recovery operations continue, the collapse has ignited a wider national conversation about construction safety, institutional accountability, and the protection of students in informal learning environments. For many, the disaster at Al Khoziny serves as a grim reminder of the human cost of negligence and the urgent need for reform to prevent such tragedies from recurring.