Tragedy Deepens as Indonesian School Structural Failure Death Toll Rises to 54
News Agency
The death count from the collapse of an Indonesian school has escalated to 54, according to authorities, with rescue teams still looking for more than a dozen missing individuals.
Hundreds students, primarily teenage boys, had assembled for religious services at the religious educational institution in East Java when the structure collapsed while undergoing construction.
The country's emergency management authority describes this as the nation's most fatal catastrophe in 2025. Emergency workers are expected to complete their search operation for 13 victims ensnared under debris by evening.
Probe Underway into Collapse Cause
Investigators are still examining the reason behind the structural failure. Some officials indicated the two-storey building caved in due to an inadequate base.
"Out of all the disasters in 2025, natural or not, there hasn't been as many dead victims as the incident in Sidoarjo," stated a deputy from the disaster mitigation agency during a media briefing.
The total count encompasses at least two people who were extracted from the debris but subsequently died in hospital.
School Background and Oversight Issues
The facility is a traditional Islamic boarding school in Indonesia, commonly known as a pesantren.
Numerous Islamic schools function without formal oversight, lacking strong regulation or consistent monitoring. It remains unclear whether the institution had proper authorization to conduct additional construction.
Rescue Challenges
Emergency response efforts have faced difficulties due to the way the structure collapsed, creating tight spaces for rescuers to maneuver within, authorities reported last week.
Survivor Accounts
Those who escaped have recounted their harrowing escape experiences with local media.
One 13-year-old eyewitness recalled first "noticing the noise of falling rocks", which "intensified and louder".
The adolescent immediately ran for the doorway, and while he managed to escape, he was wounded by collapsing materials from the ceiling.
