Rescuers search for survivors after school building collapses in Indonesia

Rescuers have run oxygen and water to students trapped in the unstable concrete rubble of a collapsed school building in Indonesia, as they worked to free survivors one day after the structure fell.

At least three students were killed, more than 100 were injured and dozens are presumed buried in the rubble.

Rescue workers, police and soldiers digging through the night pulled out eight weak and injured survivors more than eight hours after the collapse at Al Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in the East Java town of Sidoarjo. Rescuers saw additional bodies, indicating the death toll is likely to rise.

Rescue efforts were temporarily suspended at 10.15am local time on Tuesday as the collapsed concrete shook suddenly. People immediately ran for their lives, fearing another collapse, as rescuers urged everyone in the area to avoid the building, including more than a dozen ambulances parked near the scene. The work resumed at around 1.45pm.

The students are mostly boys in grades seven to 11, between the ages of 12 and 18.

Families of the students gathered at hospitals or near the collapsed building, anxiously awaiting news of their children. Relatives wailed as they watched rescuers pull a dusty, injured student from the buried prayer hall.

A notice board at the command post set up in the boarding school complex listed 65 students as missing as of Tuesday morning.

“Oh my God… my son is still buried, oh my God please help!” a mother cried hysterically upon seeing her child’s name on the board, followed by the cries of other parents whose relatives had suffered a similar fate.

“Please, sir, please find my child immediately,” cried a father, holding the hand of one of the rescue team members.

Heavy slabs of concrete and other rubble and unstable parts of the building hampered search and rescue efforts, said Nanang Sigit, a search and rescue officer who led the effort.

Heavy equipment was available but not being used due to concerns that it could cause further collapse.

“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,” Mr Sigit said.

He added that rescuers saw several bodies under the rubble but were focused on saving those who were still alive.

Several hundred rescuers were involved in the effort and had equipment for breathing, extrication, medical evacuation and other support tools.

The students had been performing afternoon prayers in a building that was undergoing an unauthorised expansion when it suddenly collapsed on top of them, provincial police spokesperson Jules Abraham Abast said.

Residents, teachers and administrators assisted injured students, many with head injuries and broken bones.

Female students were praying in another part of the building and managed to escape, survivors said.

Authorities were investigating the cause of the collapse.

Mr Abast said the old prayer hall was two stories, but two more were 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.