What began as an ordinary afternoon of prayers at Al Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in East Java ended in horror when the building suddenly gave way, trapping scores of students beneath the rubble.
By Tuesday morning, the grim toll stood at three lives lost, with nearly 40 others still unaccounted for. Around the wreckage, heartbroken families clutched photos, prayed, and wept as rescuers worked frantically with heavy equipment and bare hands, searching for survivors.
One grieving relative fainted after learning their child was among those missing. Others sat in silence, their faces etched with fear, waiting for news that many dread but still pray against.
“The number of victims is 102 people, consisting of 99 survivors and 3 deaths,” said Mohammad Syafii, head of Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency. Doctors at a nearby hospital confirmed that two of the victims succumbed to their injuries in the emergency ward.
Despite the chaos, rescue workers vowed not to give up. “We are still searching for 38 people believed to be trapped,” said Abdul Muhari, a spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.
The tragedy has reignited anger over Indonesia’s recurring building collapses, often blamed on weak construction standards. Earlier this month, another collapse in West Java killed three people during a prayer gathering, underscoring how fragile safety remains in many schools and public spaces.
But for the families camped outside the ruins in Sidoarjo, policy debates mean little. Their anguish is raw and immediate: the desperate hope that beneath the broken concrete, their loved ones might still be alive.
