Indonesian rescuers are struggling with time to save the victims of the tragic collapse of the Islamic boarding school in Java. The number of victims reached three, while at least 38 people remain missing.
Indonesian rescuers on Tuesday continued their efforts to free at least 38 people under the ruined of the collapsed building of the Islamic boarding school in the city of Sidoarjo in the east of the Indonesian Island of Java. According to the local authorities, the misfortune has already required three victims, TASR reports according to the AFP report and BBC television.
“To date, Tuesday, September 30, 2025, at 12.30 local time (07.30 CEST), the number of victims of 102 people, of which 99 survivors and three dead are dead,” said the head of the National Search and Rescue Agency Basarnas.
Rescuers have heard ‘crying and shouts’
Rescuers have heard “crying and screams” and therefore believe that there are another survivor under the ruins. “However, we must be vigilant and careful, because the condition of the collapsed building is unstable,” said another representative of Basarnas.
The two -storey building had unstable foundations and therefore did not bear the weight of two other completed floors, said Tuesday, the agency for mitigating the consequences of disasters BNPB.
Victims of teenage age
The victims are mostly boys of teenage age, who participated in prayers. According to AP, the girls prayed in another part of the building and managed to escape. School pupils are between the ages of 12 and 17, adds the BBC.
According to television, the disabled school belongs to the category of Pesantren – a traditional Islamic boarding school in Indonesia. Students live there, study and practice religion under the guidance of a religious teacher. Schools of Pesantren traditionally focus on Islamic studios, the Qurán memorization, the teaching of Arabic and Islamic law. Currently, many of them also offer general education.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs Responds
Unlike ordinary schools, this type of schools falls under the Ministry of Religious Affairs, not the Ministry of Education. The resort expressed “deep condolences” and undertook to strictly monitor government assistance to the victims of the disaster.
