Catastrophe Deepens as Indonesian School Collapse Fatalities Rises to 54
Media Source
The number of fatalities from the structural failure of an Indonesian school has escalated to 54, according to authorities, with rescue teams still looking for more than a dozen unaccounted persons.
Numerous students, primarily teenage boys, had gathered for religious services at the religious educational institution in East Java when the building collapsed while being renovated.
Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency describes this as the nation's deadliest catastrophe this year. Emergency workers are anticipated to conclude their search operation for thirteen individuals trapped beneath the rubble by day's end.
Probe Ongoing into Structural Failure
Authorities are continuing to probe the cause behind the structural failure. Some officials suggested the two-level structure collapsed due to an unstable foundation.
"Out of all the disasters in 2025, natural or not, there hasn't been as numerous fatalities as the ones in Sidoarjo," declared a deputy from the emergency management authority during a press conference.
The overall number encompasses at least two people who were extracted from the rubble but subsequently died in hospital.
School Background and Oversight Issues
The institution is a conventional Islamic boarding school in Indonesia, commonly known as a pesantren.
Numerous Islamic schools operate informally, without strong regulation or regular inspections. It remains unclear whether the school had proper authorization to undertake building modifications.
Operational Difficulties
Search and rescue operations have proven challenging due to the manner the structure fell, creating narrow voids for rescuers to operate within, authorities reported previously.
Eyewitness Reports
Those who escaped have recounted their harrowing survival stories with regional news outlets.
One 13-year-old eyewitness described first "hearing the noise of collapsing materials", which "grew louder and more intense".
The young person quickly rushed for the exit, and while he managed to escape, he was wounded by falling debris from the ceiling.
