Indonesian rescuers hunt 38 missing after Islamic school collapse kills three, injures nearly 80

THE CASUALTIES AND INJURIES

The students had been performing afternoon prayers in a building that was undergoing unauthorised expansion when it suddenly collapsed on top of them, provincial police spokesperson Jules Abraham Abast said.

Residents, teachers and administrators assisted injured students, many with head injuries and broken bones. Female students were praying in another part of the building and managed to escape, survivors said.

One male student, a 13-year-old boy, was found dead on Monday and 102 students and teachers were injured and taken to hospitals, some of them in critical condition, Muhari said. By Tuesday, 75 students and two teachers were still hospitalised, he said.

On Tuesday, two male students died from their injuries while being treated in Notopuro General Hospital, the hospital director Atok Irawan said. The two were among 11 students who initially were pulled out alive from the rubble by rescuers, he said.

At least one student had to have his arm amputated and two others underwent surgery for head injuries, Irawan said.

Authorities were investigating the cause of the collapse. Abast said the old prayer hall was two storeys but two more were being added without a permit.

“The old building’s foundation was apparently unable to support two floors of concrete and collapsed during the pouring process,” Abast said.

Lax construction standards have raised widespread concerns about building safety in Indonesia.

Earlier this month, at least three people were killed and dozens injured after a building hosting a prayer recital collapsed in West Java.

Meanwhile, teenagers rehearsing for a musical show were among seven people killed in Cirebon, east of Jakarta, in 2018 when the building they were in collapsed.

At least 75 people were also injured the same year when a mezzanine floor at Indonesia’s stock exchange building in Jakarta collapsed into the lobby.