Rescuers today found no signs of life under the rubble of an Islamic school that collapsed three days ago in Indonesia, and 59 people are still missing, an official said.
The building collapsed on Monday afternoon as hundreds of people, mostly boys, were attending prayers in the prayer hall of the school and boarding school in East Java province.
The number of missing people rose from an initial 38 to 91 before a new toll was released, with officials confirming five people had died.
Five survivors and two bodies were pulled from the rubble of the school 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the city of Srabay, east of the main island of Java, on Thursday.
“We used high-tech equipment such as thermal drones and there was no sign of life,” said M. Suharianto, director of the National Disaster Management Agency.
The agency’s director said he hoped that not all the missing were under the rubble, citing the case of a woman who was mourning the death of her son and later found him alive and well.
“The rescue team has decided to move to the next phase of the search, using heavy equipment,” he said.
Fifty-nine people are now missing and are believed to be trapped under the rubble, said Abdul Muhari, a spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency.
An investigation has been launched into the cause of the school collapse. Experts’ initial assessments point to structural problems and inadequate building codes.
