First responders carrying a body bag on Oct 6, 2025, amid ongoing search and rescue efforts at Pondok Pesantren Al Khoziny. - AFP
JAKARTA: Public calls are mounting for a thorough investigation into the collapse of a prayer hall at a pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in Sidoarjo, East Java, which has left 61 people dead and several others missing according to the official tally, as well as for legal action over alleged negligence that led to the disaster.
A three-storey prayer hall at Pondok Pesantren Al Khoziny in the city’s Buduran district fell atop dozens of students on Sep. 29 as they were performing asar (afternoon prayer) on the ground floor, in one of the country’s deadliest nonnatural disasters this year.
As of Monday (Oct 6) evening, members of a joint rescue team had recovered 61 bodies and were still searching for two missing students, based on the school’s attendance record.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday morning, Maj Gen Budi Irawan, emergency response deputy of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), said several unidentified body parts recovered at the site were believed to belong to the missing students.
“There are still two [students] unaccounted for according to our data, but seven body parts have been found. We will wait for the police’s disaster victim identification team to confirm whether they belong to those two victims,” Budi said.
Seventeen students have been identified among the dead, and their bodies have been returned to their families for burial.
Of the 104 students rescued during the “golden period”, referring to a 72-hour time frame following an incident, 100 have been sent home, while four students are still receiving medical treatment.
As the search and rescue operation entered its ninth day, Budi said the BNPB would continue assisting the local administration with providing support for survivors, clearing debris and investigating the cause of the collapse.
“In line with the instructions of President Prabowo Subianto, we will continue helping assess nearby buildings to ensure that a similar incident does not happen again,” he added.
The tragedy has sparked widespread concerns over the lack of national building safety standards and renewed calls for accountability.
Fauzi, a representative of parents whose son survived but lost four nephews in the disaster, urged authorities to launch a full investigation as suspicions abound that structural failure caused the building to collapse.
“That means there was a violation, and it must be investigated," Fauzi said on Monday, as quoted by Tempo.co.
“Do not focus only on evacuation. Law enforcement must also proceed simultaneously,” he said.
Lawmakers have echoed the demand, calling for a transparent probe and the pursuit of legal measures in the event that negligence was determined to be the cause.
“If there was a legal violation, it must be resolved through due process, because this [incident] has caused the deaths of many students,” Singgih Januratmoko, deputy chair of Commission VIII overseeing religious affairs, said on Monday, as quoted by Kompas.com.
The Golkar Party lawmaker also urged authorities to find those responsible and to ensure that any future construction projects were managed and supervised by certified experts.
Commission VIII chair Marwan Dasopang, a lawmaker from the National Awakening Party (PKB), said the tragedy pointed to not only possible negligence by the school but also a systemic failure of government oversight.
“Yes, the pesantren may be at fault, but the government is also responsible for not supervising,” Marwan said on Monday at the Senayan Legislative Complex in Central Jakarta.
“This is not negligence by the school alone. There are authorities responsible for granting and monitoring building permits,” he said.
East Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Nanang Avianto said in a written statement on Sunday that a preliminary probe had begun and a full investigation would be launched once the rescue operation had ended.
“Early indications of the cause of the collapse will be examined scientifically by experts. We ask for everyone’s patience until the evacuation process is finished,” Nanang said.
Speaking to media on Tuesday during a visit to the incident site, Public Works Minister Dody Hanggodo said only around 50 pesantren had obtained the building approval (PBG) out of the 42,433 pesantren registered with the Religious Affairs Ministry, mostly on Java.
The PBG is a permit that allows the commencement of building activities, including for new structures, renovations and expansions, and is obtained through local administrations.
“The authority for the permits is not with local administrations. [They] coordinate with the Home Ministry and the Religious Affairs Ministry,” said Dody, underlining that administrative coordination must be improved to strengthen supervision.
Also on Oct 7, Coordinating Social Empowerment Minister Muhaimin Iskandar met with Religious Affairs Minister Nasaruddin Umar to discuss the matter.
“We will implement swift measures to address [building] vulnerabilities” at Islamic boarding schools, Muhaimin told journalists after the meeting. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
