Jakarta [Indonesia], October 5: The death toll from the collapse of a boarding school in Indonesia's East Java province has risen to 14, according to officials, as rescuers battle to recover dozens of students believed still buried under the rubble.
Hundreds of students, most of them teenage boys, were inside the Al-Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in the town of Sidoarjo when it collapsed on Monday, initially killing at least five students and injuring about 100.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) chief Suharyanto told reporters on Saturday that rescuers found nine bodies on Friday, raising the death toll to 14.
"As of today, we are still searching for 49 people who are still missing," said Suharyanto, who goes by one name, as reported by broadcaster Kompas TV.
More victims could be found, Suharyanto said, as rescuers moved to use heavy machinery to clear locations where the victims were believed to be buried underneath the rubble.
"After the last victim was found last night, we are focusing on a massive cleanup, with heavy equipment entering the collapsed areas," he said.
Suharyanto said victim identification had been complicated by the fact that most of the victims were under 18 and did not have government identity cards or fingerprint records.
Source: Qatar Tribune
