The death toll from the collapse of a school in Indonesia has risen to 54, authorities said, with rescuers still searching for more than a dozen missing people.
Hundreds of students, most of them teenage boys, had gathered for prayers at the Al Khoziny Islamic boarding school in East Java when it collapsed last Monday while undergoing construction.
Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency states this is the country's deadliest disaster of 2025. Rescuers are expected to complete their search for 13 victims trapped under the rubble by the end of the day.
Investigators are still looking into the causes of the collapse. Some officials indicated that the two-storey building caved in due to an unstable foundation.
Out of all the disasters in 2025, natural or not, there hasn't been as many dead victims as the ones in Sidoarjo, Budi Irawan, a deputy at the disaster mitigation agency, announced at a press conference.
The death toll includes at least two individuals who were freed from the debris but later succumbed to their injuries in the hospital.
Al Khoziny is a traditional Islamic boarding school in Indonesia, known as a pesantren. Many pesantren operate without strong regulatory oversight, raising concerns about safety compliance. It remains unclear if Al Khoziny had the necessary permits for the construction activities.
Search and rescue operations have faced challenges due to the collapse's nature, which left only narrow paths for rescuers to navigate. Survivors have recounted their harrowing escapes to local media.
Muhammad Rijalul Qoib, a 13-year-old, described hearing the sound of falling rocks, which grew louder and louder, prompting him to flee. He managed to escape but sustained injuries from falling debris.
