The death toll from the collapse of an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia’s East Java province has risen to at least 50, according to rescue officials on Monday. The incident, described as the country’s deadliest building disaster this year, left dozens of students trapped under debris after the multi-storey structure gave way last week.
The tragedy occurred at the Al Khozini Islamic Boarding School in Sidoarjo, where a concrete section of the building suddenly collapsed on more than a hundred teenage students. Rescue teams said nearly 80 percent of the debris had been cleared by Sunday night using heavy machinery, and several bodies and body parts had been recovered from the wreckage.
Budi Irawan, deputy head of Indonesia’s Disaster Management Agency, confirmed that 50 deaths have been verified so far, while 13 others remain missing. “No other single building collapse this year has caused so many casualties. Whether natural or man-made, this is the deadliest incident of 2025,” he said.
Rescue official Yudhi Bramantiyo reported that five additional body parts were retrieved, indicating the final death toll could reach at least 54. Footage released by rescue authorities showed workers in orange body bags carrying victims out of the rubble amid ongoing operations.
Authorities said unauthorized construction on the upper floors had likely weakened the school’s foundation, leading to the collapse. Indonesia’s Minister for Public Welfare, Dodi Hanggodho, told local media that the country has about 42,000 Islamic boarding schools known locally as pesantren but only around 50 of them have valid building permits.
It remains unclear whether the Al Khozini school had obtained such approval. A special committee has been formed to investigate the cause of the collapse, and efforts to contact the school administration are still underway.
Source: Reuters.