The death toll from an Indonesian school collapse rose to 54, officials said, as rescuers searched for more than a dozen still missing.
Part of the multi-storey building on Indonesia’s Java island collapsed suddenly last week as students gathered for afternoon prayers.
“As of this morning, we have retrieved 54 dead victims, including five body parts,” National Search and Rescue Agency operations director Yudhi Bramantyo told a press conference yesterday.
Rescuers were still working around the clock in the rubble of the Islamic boarding school.
The collapse was Indonesia’s deadliest disaster so far this year, Budi Irawan, the deputy head of the national disaster agency, said.
At least 13 people were still missing, he added.
Investigators have been examining the cause of the collapse, but initial indications suggest that substandard construction may have contributed to the incident, according to experts. — AFP
