Rescuers Chip Away at Debris to Save Those Trapped in Indonesia School Collapse

Rescuers in hard hats navigated narrow passages of concrete debris using hand tools to reach survivors trapped since Monday's collapse of an Islamic school's prayer hall in Sidoarjo, on Java Island's eastern side. The incident at the century-old Al Khoziny Islamic boarding school buried dozens under rubble, with teams communicating with those still alive to provide reassurance and supplies. As of Thursday, 59 people—mostly teenage boys—remained missing, while the death toll stood at five following hospital verifications, according to National Disaster Management Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari.

In a video released by Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency, rescuers engaged with a 16-year-old student whose torso was pinned but uninjured. "Be patient, OK? Haikal... where are you?" they asked, prompting a response from the 13-year-old boy nearby, who reported pain throughout his body. Five students, including the two, were freed Wednesday after rescuers tunnelled 70 centimetres below the structure's base. Yudhi Bramantyo, deputy chief of operations at the agency, noted that detected survivors had been communicating since Tuesday and receiving food and water, aiding their conditions despite being encased in concrete. Heavy machinery was avoided due to risks of further instability, prolonging the manual, painstaking efforts.

The collapse occurred during unauthorised construction adding two floors to the existing two-storey building, overwhelming its foundation as concrete was poured. Authorities confirmed no permit existed for the expansion, and police investigations point to structural failure as the cause. Of the hundreds present—primarily boys aged 12 to 19 in grades seven to 12—about 105 were injured, with over two dozen still hospitalised, many suffering head trauma and fractures. Revisions to missing persons counts stemmed from survivors emerging or those unaccounted for not being on site.

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Hundreds of anxious family members camped in the school's corridors since Monday, sleeping on government-provided mattresses amid ample food and drinks. Hafiah, mother of 15-year-old ninth-grader Muhammad Abdurrohman Nafis, clung to hope, describing her "hyperactive and strong" son who savoured satay rice just days before the disaster. With graduation looming and dreams of mechanical engineering ahead, she refused to waver. "I can't give up, as the rescue team is currently trying to help our children out," she said, voicing the collective anguish of parents unable to reach their trapped loved ones.

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