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With 59 still missing, Indonesian rescuers begin clearing rubble from collapsed school building

Thursday, 02 October 2025 11:12 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 02 October 2025 11:12 AM ]

Indonesian rescuers were on Thursday, October 2, given the go-ahead to use bulldozers, cranes and other heavy equipment in a continued effort to recover 59 teenagers buried under the rubble of a collapsed school building in Sidoarjo, East Java.

The parents of the children "agreed for the heavy equipment search", Indonesia National Disaster Mitigation Agency Chief, Suharyanto, told a news conference.

Rescuers found no sign of life on Thursday after calling out for those still trapped under the rubble and using motion detectors and scanners to track movements or vital signs, according to National Search and Rescue Agency official, Emi Freezer.

The Al Khoziny school building was still under construction when it collapsed on Monday, September 29. Students were conducting afternoon prayers on a lower floor of the building when the upper floors, still being constructed, crashed on them.

Late on Wednesday, October 1, Yudhi Bramantyo, operations director at the agency, said the total death toll from the collapse had reached six, although the country's disaster mitigation agency said on Thursday it was still at five.

(Source: Reuters)

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