SIDOARJO, Indonesia: The number of students confirmed dead after the collapse of an Islamic school building in Indonesia rose to 13 late on Friday (Oct 3), the country’s disaster mitigation agency said, as the search for survivors continued.
The Al Khoziny school in the town of Sidoarjo in East Java province caved in on Monday, cratering upon hundreds of teenage students during afternoon prayer, its foundations unable to support ongoing construction work on its upper floors.
Thirty ambulances were prepared as rescuers continued looking for 50 students – mostly teenage boys from the ages of 13 to 19 – still trapped under the rubble, the disaster mitigation agency said.
Earlier on Friday, the agency reported nine had died, adding that rescuers had received the parents’ permission to make use of heavy equipment after failing to find signs of life during previous efforts.
“Every family of the victims has given their blessing if the heavy equipment gets in there and disturbs the bodies beneath the rubble,” said agency chief Suharyanto, adding that there was a possibility that more dead bodies would be found.
Distraught families have been waiting anxiously near the site, hoping to receive any news of their loved ones since the building collapsed on Monday.
On Friday, some argued with rescuers, angrily calling for them to speed up the desperate rescue operation, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.
“You said there was no more sign of life, so we want to bury our family immediately,” shouted one person who declined to give his name.
“It’s been five days!”
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