At least three students died and dozens others remain missing after an Islamic boarding school collapsed in Indonesia’s East Java province on Monday afternoon, according to rescue officials and disaster management authorities.
The Al-Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in Sidoarjo collapsed at approximately 3 p.m. on September 29, 2025, as students were gathering for afternoon prayers. The building’s foundation pillars gave way while construction crews were concreting the fourth floor, trapping dozens of people under debris.
National Search and Rescue Agency head Mohammad Syafii reported that as of 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, “the number of victims is 102 people, consisting of 99 survivors, 3 deaths.”
Rescue operations continue as teams search for the people believed to be trapped under the rubble. Eleven people have been successfully rescued from the debris, while 91 others managed to escape on their own during or immediately after the collapse.
The National Agency for Disaster Management confirmed that 77 victims were transported to several hospitals in the surrounding area for treatment of their injuries. The agency did not specify the severity of the injuries sustained by those hospitalized.
Emergency response teams on the ground are focusing their efforts on site assessment, monitoring the remaining building structure, and preparing evacuation routes for victims, according to disaster management officials. The complex nature of the collapse has required careful coordination to ensure the safety of rescue workers while maximizing the chances of finding survivors.
The disaster management agency emphasized that the incident highlights the critical need for strict implementation of construction safety standards. Officials urged the public and managers of multistory buildings to ensure proper technical supervision during construction phases to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
The collapse occurred while the building was under active construction, with workers adding a fourth floor to the existing structure. The failure of foundation pillars suggests potential structural integrity issues that may have developed during the construction process.
This incident marks the second significant building collapse in Indonesia within a month. On September 3, at least three people died and dozens were injured when a community hall hosting a Quran recital collapsed in West Java’s Bogor district.
The National Search and Rescue Agency had initially provided provisional data indicating that 100 students were caught up in the collapse, with all but one located alive at that time. However, the death toll was later updated to three fatalities as rescue operations progressed and more comprehensive victim counts were established.
Rescue personnel continue working to locate the remaining missing individuals, though the timeline for completing search operations remains unclear. The structural instability of the remaining building portions has complicated rescue efforts, requiring specialized equipment and careful planning to safely access areas where survivors might be trapped.
The East Java provincial authorities have not yet announced any formal investigation into the cause of the structural failure, though the disaster management agency’s statements suggest that construction safety standards and technical supervision protocols will likely be scrutinized in the aftermath of the collapse.
