By Ramadani Saputra

SIDOARJO, Indonesia -- Indonesian officials said Thursday that they could no longer detect any signs of life from the rubble of an Islamic boarding school that collapsed on Monday as nearly 200 teenage boys were gathered for afternoon prayers.

Officials believe that fifty-nine boys, most of them between the age of 12 and 17, are still missing underneath the thick slabs of concrete that once made up the walls and ceilings of the al Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in the east of Indonesia's main island of Java. But when rescuers used thermal drones and other equipment to check for possible survivors overnight and in the early hours of Thursday, they picked up no signs of life.

"We evacuated the site and made it completely quiet, so that if there were any signs of life, our equipment would have picked them up," said Emi Freezer, an official from Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency.

Relatives of the missing, who have camped out in an intact part of the school since Monday, broke down in sobs and screams after officials shared the news on Thursday morning. Local officials have blamed illegal construction on the fourth floor of the school for the collapse. So far, five bodies have been removed from the rubble, after around 100 boys made it out alive on Monday, many with crushing injuries to their limbs and heads.

On Wednesday, rescuers digging through the ruins reached five survivors, whom they had been supplying with oxygen, water and food. They had to carefully shift concrete and other debris to avoid accidental movements that could crush others still trapped. By Thursday afternoon, near the end of the 72-hour period deemed critical for identifying survivors, rescue crews were using a crane to move heavier slabs.

"Rescuers will lift each block less than five tons and we will see if there is a body found after each block is lifted," Freezer said.

Among those still missing was Nafiz, a popular 15-year-old who, according to a friend who made it out alive, had been worshiping in the back of the school's ground-floor prayer hall when the ceiling caved in.

Nafiz's aunt Arumi, who like many Indonesians has just one name, has been sitting vigil with the boy's mother, Hafiyah, at the site of the collapse. She said Nafiz, the middle of Hafiyah's three children, loved playing with kites and was well liked by both students and teachers.

"I will be here until Nafiz's body is found," she said. "I will stay by [my sister's] side."

Pratikno, Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs, said officials were already evaluating what happened at the school to prevent similar accidents from happening in the future. A police investigation into the causes of the tragedy and those responsible will commence once the rescue operation has been concluded, said Suharyanto, who heads the National Search and Rescue Agency.

The owners and senior management of the school haven't publicly commented on the collapse and couldn't be reached on Thursday. Construction without official permits is a common problem in Indonesia, where laws are often poorly enforced and people often expand buildings when they have saved up the necessary funds.

Zainul Akbar, who traveled to the school from the nearby island of Madura, has been trying to comfort his brother, Imron, whose 15-year-old son Haikal was also still missing under the rubble. Like other relatives, Imron was asked for a DNA sample on Thursday to help identify his son, Akbar said.

"It's hard, but it's not only us who suffer," said Akbar. "Many have lost their loved ones."

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 02, 2025 05:49 ET (09:49 GMT)

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