The death toll from the collapse of a boarding school in Indonesia’s East Java province has risen to 14, according to officials, as rescuers battle to recover dozens of students believed still buried under the rubble.
Hundreds of students, most of them teenage boys, were inside the Al-Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in the town of Sidoarjo when it collapsed on Monday, initially killing at least five students and injuring about 100.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) chief Suharyanto told reporters on Saturday that rescuers found nine bodies on Friday, raising the death toll to 14.
“As of today, we are still searching for 49 people who are still missing,” said Suharyanto, who goes by one name, as reported by broadcaster Kompas TV.
More victims could be found, Suharyanto said, as rescuers moved to use heavy machinery to clear locations where the victims were believed to be buried underneath the rubble.
“After the last victim was found last night, we are focusing on a massive cleanup, with heavy equipment entering the collapsed areas,” he said.
Suharyanto said victim identification had been complicated by the fact that most of the victims were under 18 and did not have government identity cards or fingerprint records.
“Some of the bodies were too badly damaged to be recognised visually,” he said.
The total number of victims recorded is 167, of which 104 have been found and are safe, said Abdul Muhari, head of the Disaster Data, Information and Communication Centre at the BNPB.
Fourteen survivors are receiving hospital treatment, while 89 have been discharged. One has been transferred to another hospital, added Muhari.
The school collapse was so violent that it sent tremors across the neighbourhood, according to residents.
Investigators have been looking into the cause of the collapse, but initial signs pointed to substandard construction, experts have said.
The rescue operation was complex because vibrations in one place could affect other areas, officials said.
But the families of the missing agreed on Thursday for heavy equipment to be used, after the 72-hour “golden period” for the best chance of survival came to an end.
The rescue operation was complicated by an earthquake that struck overnight on Tuesday, briefly halting the search.
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