Search Continues for Missing Students Following Boarding School Collapse That Killed 49

Rescuers are still searching for a group of missing students after a boarding school in Indonesia collapsed, killing dozens of people.

Following the collapse of the Al Khoziny boarding school in Sidoarjo — located on Java island, about 485 miles east of the capital of Jakarta — on Monday, Sept. 29, officials have been working around the clock to locate more missing people.

According to the Associated Press, officials pulled dozens of bodies out of the rubble over the weekend, bringing the death toll of the incident to 49 by Sunday, Oct. 5.

The country’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency told AP that rescue teams were using heavy excavators equipped with jackhammers and circular saws, as well as their bare hands on occasion, to find the 14 students still missing.

The agency said that rescuers found 35 bodies over the weekend, per AP. Yudhi Bramantyo, the director of operations at Basarnas, the country’s national search and rescue agency, previously told CNN that rescuers have detected no further signs of life.

Many of those trapped are believed to be boys between the ages of 12 and 19, multiple outlets reported.

The incident reportedly happened during the Islamic school’s afternoon prayers, and the school collapsed as construction work was taking place at the site on Monday, the BBC and Reuters previously reported. Female students were praying separately and escaped from another part of the school.

“All victims who were able to communicate with the rescue team have already been evacuated today from two different search sectors,” Bramantyo previously said.

According to AP, the century-old religious school fell on top of hundreds of students, and only one escaped unscathed. Ninety-seven others were treated for injuries, and six students still remain in the hospital.

Authorities are still investigating the incident, but police have confirmed that the building was under construction without a permit. Two new levels were being added to the two-story building, and the collapse was caused by a structural failure.

Sidoarjo district chief Subandi (who goes by a single name) confirmed the police’s report, telling AP that the school’s management did not apply for a required permit.

“Many buildings, including traditional boarding school extensions, in non-urban areas were built without a permit,” Subandi said on Sunday.

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Mudji Irmawan, a construction expert from Tenth November Institute of Technology, told AP that students should not have been allowed inside the building while it was under construction.

“The construction couldn’t support the load while the concrete was pouring [to build] the third floor because it didn’t meet standards, and the whole 800 square meters [8,600 square feet] construction collapsed,” Irmawan said.

Abdus Salam Mujib, a local Islamic cleric and caretaker for the school, shared a public apology the day after the incident, though school officials have yet to comment.

“This is indeed God’s will, so we must all be patient, and may God replace it with goodness, with something much better,” he said, per AP. “We must be confident that God will reward those affected by this incident with great rewards.”

East Java Police Chief Nanang Avianto told the media on Sunday that authorities were investigating the incident “thoroughly.”

“Our investigation also requires guidance from a team of construction experts to determine whether negligence by the school led to the deaths,” Avianto said.