A building under construction at a school in Indonesia collapsed on Monday, killing at least one, injuring 99, some who are in critical condition, and burying dozens in the rubble.
A rescue team worked through the night to rescue additional students feared to be trapped after the collapse at Al Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in the East Java town of Sidoarjo. Rescuers said they saw more buried bodies under the rubble, indicating that the death toll is likely to rise.
“We have been running oxygen and water to those still trapped under the debris and keeping them alive while we work hard to get them out,” Nanang Sigit, who led the rescue effort, said.
The students had been at afternoon prayer in a building that was undergoing an unauthorised expansion when it collapsed, according to provincial police spokesperson Jules Abraham Abast. The prayer hall originally consisted of just two floors, but had been renovated without a permit to add two more stories.
“The old building’s foundation was apparently unable to support two floors of concrete and collapsed during the pouring process,” Abast said.
Authorities launched an investigation into the cause of the building’s collapse.