At least one student was killed, dozens were injured, and 65 others were believed to be buried as rescuers delivered oxygen and water to those trapped beneath the unstable concrete rubble of a collapsed school building in Indonesia.
Rescue workers, police, and soldiers digging through the night pulled out eight weak and injured survivors more than eight hours after the collapse at Al Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in the East Java town of Sidoarjo. Rescuers also saw additional bodies, indicating the death toll was likely to rise.
Families of the students gathered at hospitals or near the collapsed building, anxiously awaiting news of their children. Relatives wailed as they watched rescuers pull a dusty, injured student from the buried prayer hall.
A notice board at the command post set up in the boarding school complex listed 65 students as missing as of Tuesday morning. They are mostly boys in grades seven to 11, between the ages of 12 and 17.
“Oh my God, my son is still buried, oh my God, please help!” a mother cried hysterically upon seeing her child’s name on the board, followed by the cries of other parents whose relatives had suffered a similar fate.
“Please, sir, please find my child immediately,” cried a father, holding the hand of one of the rescue team members.
Heavy slabs of concrete and other rubble, along with unstable parts of the building, hampered search and rescue efforts, said Nanang Sigit, a search and rescue officer who led the effort.
“Heavy equipment was available but not being used due to concerns that it could cause further collapse. We have been running oxygen and water to those still trapped under the debris and keeping them alive while we work hard to get them out,” Mr. Sigit said.
He added that rescuers saw several bodies under the rubble but were focused on saving those who were still alive.
Several hundred rescuers were involved in the effort and had equipment for breathing, extrication, medical evacuation, and other support tools.
The students had been performing afternoon prayers in a building that was undergoing an unauthorized expansion when it suddenly collapsed on top of them, provincial police spokesperson Jules Abraham Abast said.
Residents, teachers, and administrators assisted injured students, many with head injuries and broken bones. Female students were praying in another part of the building and managed to escape, survivors said.
One male student, a 13-year-old boy, was killed and 99 other students were injured and taken to hospitals, some of them in critical condition, officials said.
Authorities are investigating the cause of the collapse. Mr. Abast explained that the old prayer hall was two stories, but two more were being added without a permit.
“The old building’s foundation was apparently unable to support two floors of concrete and collapsed during the pouring process,” he said.
https://www.breakingnews.ie/world/at-least-65-students-presumed-buried-under-rubble-of-collapsed-indonesian-school-1812782.html