Rescuers ran oxygen and water to students trapped in the unstable concrete rubble of a collapsed school building in Indonesia, as they desperately worked to free survivors Tuesday morning more than 12 hours after the structure fell.
Rescue workers, police and soldiers digging through the night pulled out eight weak and injured survivors more than eight hours after the collapse at the Al Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in the East Java town of Sidoarjo.
At least three students were killed, with many others injured and dozens were presumed buried in the rubble. Rescuers say the death toll will likely rise.
A notice board at the command post set up in the boarding school complex listed 65 people as missing as of Tuesday morning. National Disaster Management Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari revised the number of people missing to 38 by midday.
One male student, a 13-year-old boy, was found dead on Monday and 102 students and teachers were injured and taken to hospitals, some of them in critical condition, Muhari said.
Rescuers pull out a survivor from a collapsed building at an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia. (Trisnadi/The Associated Press)By Tuesday, 75 students and two teachers were still hospitalized, he said. Two male students died from their injuries while being treated in Notopuro General Hospital, the hospital director Atok Irawan said. The two were among 11 students who initially were pulled out alive from the rubble by rescuers, he said.
At least one student had to have his arm amputated and two others underwent surgery for head injuries, Irawan said.
Rescue efforts were temporarily suspended at 10:15 a.m. 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 around 1:45 p.m.
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 hall.
The students were mostly boys in grades seven to 11, between the ages of 12 and 17.
Rescuers search for victims under the collapsed building. Rescuers managed to pull some children out alive but feared the death toll would climb. (Trisnadi/The Associated Press )"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 lead 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," Sigit said.
He added rescuers saw several bodies scattered under the rubble, but they focused on saving those who were still alive. Several hundred rescuers were involved in the effort.
This aerial shot taken with a drone shows the rubble of a building that collapsed. (Trisnadi/The Associated Press)The students had been performing afternoon prayers in a building that was undergoing an unauthorized 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. Abast said the old prayer hall was two storeys but two additional levels 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," Abast said.