Rescuers are racing to pull dozens of students and workers from under the rubble of a school building that collapsed in East Java, Indonesia.
Three people have been killed and 99 others hospitalized, some of them with critical injuries, officials said Tuesday, adding that the death toll may rise.
At least 38 others, many of them teenage boys, remain trapped under the Al Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in the town of Sidoarjo. They had gathered for prayers when the building gave way on Monday.
The two-storey building had an unstable foundation and could not support the weight of the construction of two more floors, according to the disaster mitigation agency.
Girls were praying in another part of the building and managed to escape, according to reports.
As students aged between 12 and 17 prayed, the structure collapsed, causing cries for help to resonate from the debris. Footage showed the collapsed section of the building entirely sunken in with concrete slabs strewn about.
Authorities have stated that the conditions within the debris are precarious, with fears that further collapse could endanger rescuers and potential survivors.
Mohammad Syafeii, head of the search and rescue agency Basarnas, confirmed that a specialized operation is being organized, with regional rescue units equipped with extraction tools now deployed.
The caretaker of the school, KH Abdus Salam Mujib, has apologized to the families, attributing the incident to God's will. There is ongoing scrutiny regarding the legitimacy of the building's expansions, as local authorities indicate the school's management lacked necessary permits.
Construction safety standards in Indonesia have come under fire, with the sector plagued by poor safety records. This collapse follows another recent incident in West Java that resulted in multiple casualties.
