This photo provided by Indonesia's National Search And Rescue Agency (Basarnas) shows rescue team members working at the site of a collapsed school building at Al Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in Sidoarjo district, East Java, Indonesia, Oct. 4, 2025. The death toll from the collapse of a school building in Indonesia's East Java province has risen to 37, regional rescue authorities said Sunday. (Basarnas/Handout via Xinhua)
JAKARTA, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from the collapse of a school building in Indonesia's East Java province has risen to 37, regional rescue authorities said Sunday.
Nanang Sigit, head of the East Java Search and Rescue Office, said in a statement issued by the office that the excavation work has been challenging as victims were buried under the rubble.
About 25 people remain missing, and the death toll is expected to rise.
Part of the multi-storey Al Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in Sidoarjo district caved in on Monday during unauthorized renovation, trapping dozens of students.
Rescuers deployed heavy machinery on Thursday after no further signs of life were detected. Earlier, they had relied mainly on manual excavation out of concern that heavy equipment could cause further collapse. ■
This photo taken on Oct. 4, 2025 shows staff members transferring a body pack containing a victim of the school building collapse at Bhayangkara Hospital in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia. The death toll from the collapse of a school building in Indonesia's East Java province has risen to 37, regional rescue authorities said Sunday. (Photo by Sahlan Kurniawan/Xinhua)
This photo provided by Indonesia's National Search And Rescue Agency (Basarnas) shows emergency workers transferring a body bag at the site of a collapsed school building at Al Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in Sidoarjo district, East Java, Indonesia, Oct. 4, 2025. The death toll from the collapse of a school building in Indonesia's East Java province has risen to 37, regional rescue authorities said Sunday. (Basarnas/Handout via Xinhua)