Sidoarjo: The number of casualties from the collapse of an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia's East Java province rose to 36, while 27 others were still missing, as the search efforts continued for a seventh day, rescue officials said on Sunday.
According to Ghana News Agency, 'We were able to extract 11 more bodies . from under the rubble as of Sunday morning. It brings the total number of students dead to 36. We also found a body part during the operation,' national search and rescue agency operations director Yudhi Bramantyo said in a live-streamed press conference.
The collapse of Al Khoziny Islamic boarding school in Sidoarjo district occurred on Monday, during a concrete-pouring operation on top of a four-storey building, where dozens of teenage students were congregating on the ground floor for an afternoon prayer.
National disaster agency official Budi Irawan said 27 others are still missing, based on the data provided by the school, and most of the victims are presumably located on the ground floor.
Several students managed to flee when the building suddenly collapsed and trapped the others in what engineers called a 'pancake model' to describe the construction failure that led to the collapse.
A total of 167 people were believed to be inside the building when the incident happened on Monday, with 140 accounted for, including 104 survivors.
Bramantyo said rescue workers were working around the clock in three shifts to expedite the operation while taking into account the fragile structure, as one of the main concrete sections of the collapsed building is attached to an adjacent building.
