No more signs of life in collapsed school
After days of rescue operations, 59 people were still feared buried under the rubble.
Text size
Share
Daily TribuneAfter days of rescue operations, 59 people were still feared buried under the rubble.
Share
SIDOARJO, Indonesia (AFP) — Rescuers detected “no more signs of life” at a collapsed Indonesian school where 59 people were believed missing days after it gave way, an official said Thursday, raising fears no more survivors would be found.
Part of the multi-story boarding school on the main island of Java suddenly collapsed on Monday as students gathered for afternoon prayers.
“We used high-tech equipment like thermal drones, and, scientifically, there were no more signs of life,” said Suharyanto, the head of the country’s disaster mitigation agency.
Distraught and tearful families waited anxiously near the site for news of their loved ones. Residents near the school offered the families to stay in their homes as they waited, Agence France-Presse (AFP) saw.
“I’ve been here since day one. I am hoping for the best news, that my brother survives. I am still hopeful,” said Maulana Bayu Rizky Pratama, whose 17-year-old brother is missing.
“It’s been four days, I hope my brother will be found soon. I feel sad thinking of him being down there for four days,” the 28-year-old added.
Rescuers pulled five survivors from the rubble on Wednesday as frantic parents demanded searchers speed up efforts to find dozens of children believed to still be trapped.
Abdul Hanan, whose 14-year-old son is missing, said children under the rubble had been crying for help.
“The rescue operation must be accelerated,” he urged.
Investigations into the cause of the collapse in the town of Sidoarjo are ongoing, but initial signs point to substandard construction, experts have said.
The rescue operation is complex as vibrations happening in one place can impact other areas, said Mohammad Syafii, head of the National Search and Rescue Agency.
“So now, to reach the spot where the victims are, we have to dig an underground tunnel,” he told reporters.
But digging itself poses challenges. Any tunnel will only provide an access route around 60 centimeters (about 23 inches) wide.
