Accra: Indonesian rescue teams on Tuesday concluded a week-long search for victims in the rubble of a collapsed four-storey building at an Islamic boarding school, confirming 61 deaths in one of the country’s worst building disasters in recent years. Indonesian rescue teams on Tuesday, concluded a week-long search for victims in the rubble of a collapsed four-storey building at an Islamic boarding school, confirming 61 deaths in one of the country’s worst building disasters in recent years.
According to Ghana News Agency, heavy machinery completed the final clearing of debris at the Al Khoziny Islamic boarding school in East Java’s Sidoarjo district early Tuesday, the National Disaster Management Agency said. ‘The site has been cleared, and 61 victims have been found,’ said Budi Irawan, the agency’s deputy for emergency response, marking the end of a harrowing recovery effort that began after the structure gave way during a concrete-pouring operation on September 29.
Among the victims were remains still being examined by forensic experts to confirm their identities, he said. Two people previously reported missing may be among them. The building collapse trapped dozens of students, most of them teenagers, inside a newly built prayer hall that had already been in use, despite still being under construction.
Officials said the disaster affected 165 people, of whom 104 survived.