🔗 Share this article Disaster at Indonesian School: Death Toll Increases to 49 as Rescue Efforts for Missing Students Persists Indonesia's rescue teams located dozens further victims over the recent period, bringing the confirmed fatality count to 49 after a religious building at an Islamic boarding school caved in last week. Intensive Search and Rescue Ongoing Using construction equipment fitted with breaking equipment, circular saws and sometimes their bare hands, responders cleared massive amounts of rubble in a critical effort to locate the 14 scholars allegedly still unaccounted for. Search teams discovered 35 victims over the weekend alone, according to the national emergency authority. Timeline of the Heartbreaking Event The construction collapsed on top of hundreds of students – mainly young men aged 12 to 19 – on 29 September at the 100-year-old boarding school in Sidoarjo. Of those rescued, 97 were cared for for different wounds and sent home. Six others suffered serious trauma and remained hospitalised on Sunday. Cause of Building Failure Uncovered Police claim that additional floors were being constructed to the original structure lacking a official authorization, leading to catastrophic failure. This has provoked broad anger over unpermitted construction in Indonesia. “The structural work was unable to bear the weight while the building material was being placed [to build] the additional level because it failed to meet safety requirements and the whole 800-square-metres construction fell down,” stated a building specialist from an engineering university. The specialist also said that pupils must not have been given access inside a facility being built. Official Response The local district head verified the educational facility's leadership had not applied for the necessary permit before starting building work. “Numerous constructions, such as typical school extensions, in non-urban areas were built lacking a construction license,” the authority stated. Judicial Consequences The country's 2002 building construction code dictate that authorizations have to be issued by the appropriate agencies prior to any construction project, or else management face penalties and jail time. If a violation results in death, this can culminate in up to 15 years in prison and a monetary sanction of up to 8bn rupiah (nearly $500,000). Statement from Institution Leadership The facility's administrator, a well-known Islamic cleric in the province, offered a formal apology in a rare public statement a day after the tragedy. “This is indeed God's will so we must all be patient, and may God replace it with blessings, with an outcome far superior,” he remarked. “We must be certain that God will bless those impacted by this incident with significant rewards.” Current Investigation Criminal investigations related to religious leaders remain sensitive in the largest Islamic country. There has been silence from school officials since the incident. “We will probe this case comprehensively,” regional police chief said on Sunday. “Our inquiry also demands expertise from a group of structural engineers to determine whether failure by the school resulted in the fatalities.”