Over 60 Children Buried Under Collapsed School As Rescuers Race To Find Survivors

Dozens of students and workers remain trapped in the rubble after the collapse of a boarding school building.

Three students lost their lives and around 101 were rushed to the hospital since the tragic incident took place on Monday, September 29.

“Oh my God … my son is still buried,” a mother cried hysterically as she waited for her child to be located.

Students and workers remain trapped in the rubble after a boarding school building collapsed in Indonesia

Image credits: Robertus Pudyanto / Getty Images

Students of the Al Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in the East Java town of Sidoarjo, Indonesia, had gathered to pray when the building caved in.

Panic ensued as the students and staff began hearing rocks falling.

“It got louder and louder,” the 13-year-old named Muhammad Rijalul Qoib told detikJatim.

The seventh grader said he immediately ran outside and had roof debris fall on top of him. Luckily, he managed to climb out of the rubble.

A student recalled climbing out of the rubble himself after roof debris fell on top of him

Image credits: Robertus Pudyanto / Getty Images

Another student Sofa recalled seeing his fellow schoolmates suffer “lots of injuries.”

“There were also broken bones,” he told a local media outlet.

Search and rescue teams were sure that there were survivors trapped inside the collapsed building.

They could hear “crying and shouting,” said Nanang Sigit, a search and rescue officer who led the effort.

“But we need to be vigilant and tread carefully, because the condition of the collapsed building is unstable,” he added.

The number of fatalities is likely to increase as rescuers sift through the debris

Image credits: Robertus Pudyanto / Getty Images

As of Tuesday morning, a noticeboard inside the boarding school complex listed 65 students as missing.

“Oh my God … my son is still buried, oh my God please help!” a mother cried after seeing her son’s name on the list.

Another father held one of the rescue members’ hands and cried, “Please, sir, please find my child immediately.”

Image credits: Robertus Pudyanto / Getty Images

Most of the missing students were boys aged between 12 and 17.

The female students in the school were praying in another part of the building and managed to escape when the building collapsed.

Rescuers worked overnight, digging to locate survivors buried underneath the huge slabs of concrete.

“We have been running oxygen and water to those still trapped under the debris and keeping them alive while we work hard to get them out,” Sigit said.

“Oh my God … my son is still buried, oh my God please help!” a mother cried after seeing her son’s name the list of missing students

Image credits: Robertus Pudyanto / Getty Images

Sigit noted that rescuers spotted several bodies under the rubble; however, they were keeping their focus on rescuing survivors still alive under the debris.

The collapsed building has taken the form of a “pancake type structure,” the head of another search agency said.

There are “layers of concrete slabs leaving only narrow voids, unstable conditions, and the possibility of survivors still trapped,” he added.

Image credits: theinformant_x / X

An investigation into the cause of the collapse is underway.

Provincial police spokesperson Jules Abraham Abast said the prayer hall, where the boys had gathered, was a two-storeyed structure. But two more floors were allegedly being added without a permit.

“The old building’s foundation was apparently unable to support two floors of concrete and collapsed during the pouring process,” he said.

It is believed the “old building’s foundation” couldn’t support the structure and caved in

⚠️Indonesia school collapse: one dead, 65 buried under rubble as rescuers race to find survivors

Indonesia school collapse: one dead, 65 buried under rubble as rescuers race to find survivors
Death toll expected to rise as instability of building in East Java town hampers rescue… pic.twitter.com/8ik4FsKykP

— News.Az (@news_az) September 30, 2025

Netizens expressed grief over the tragic incident, with one saying, “They must be so scared.”

“I hope by some miracle these children survive, heartbreaking for all the families concerned,” one said.

Another wrote, “My heart aches for the children and families caught in this tragedy.”

“Sending strength to the students, the rescuers, and the families,” read one comment online

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