The death toll from the collapse of a school in Indonesia has risen to 54, authorities said, with rescuers still searching for more than a dozen missing people.
Hundreds of students, most of them teenage boys, had gathered for prayers at the Al Khoziny Islamic boarding school in East Java when it collapsed last Monday during construction.
Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency reports this incident is the country's deadliest disaster of the year. Rescuers are expected to conclude their search for 13 victims trapped under the rubble by the day's end.
Investigators are still looking into the cause of the collapse, with some officials indicating that the two-storey building's foundation may have been unstable.
Out of all the disasters in 2025, natural or not, there hasn't been as many dead victims as the ones in Sidoarjo, said Budi Irawan, a deputy at the disaster mitigation agency, during a press conference.
The death toll includes at least two individuals who were rescued from the debris but later succumbed to their injuries in the hospital.
Al Khoziny is recognized as a traditional Islamic boarding school, or pesantren, in Indonesia, many of which operate informally without stringent regulation or oversight. It remains unclear whether Al Khoziny had the necessary permits for the ongoing construction work.
Rescue operations have faced significant challenges due to the nature of the building’s collapse, leaving only narrow passages for rescuers to navigate. Survivors have shared their harrowing experiences with local media.
Muhammad Rijalul Qoib, a 13-year-old survivor, recounted, I first heard the sound of falling rocks, which got louder and louder. He managed to escape the collapsing structure but was injured by falling debris.
