🔗 Share this article Catastrophe at Indonesia's Boarding School: Death Toll Climbs to 49 as Rescue Efforts for Missing Scholars Goes On Indonesia's emergency crews located numerous more victims over the weekend, raising the confirmed death toll to 49 after a religious building at an Islamic boarding school collapsed last week. Relentless Search and Rescue Ongoing Employing heavy excavators fitted with demolition tools, saws and sometimes their unprotected hands, responders removed massive amounts of debris in a critical attempt to discover the 14 pupils said to be still missing. Emergency workers discovered 35 remains over the weekend alone, according to the government disaster agency. Sequence of the Tragic Collapse The building crashed down on top of numerous of pupils – mostly young men aged 12 to 19 – on 29 September at the century-old school in East Java. Of those extracted, 97 were cared for for multiple wounds and sent home. Six others suffered critical injuries and remained under medical care on Sunday. Origin of Collapse Revealed Authorities state that additional floors were being constructed to the two-story facility without a permit, leading to catastrophic failure. This has provoked extensive outrage over unpermitted construction in the nation. “The building work failed to withstand the weight while the cement was pouring [to build] the new story because it didn't meet construction codes and the complete 800-square-metres building fell down,” said a construction expert from an engineering university. The specialist also commented that pupils should not have been allowed inside a structure undergoing construction. Official Reaction Sidoarjo district's chief acknowledged the school's management had not requested the mandatory permit before commencing construction. “Many constructions, such as traditional school extensions, in rural regions were erected lacking a official authorization,” the administrator stated. Legal Ramifications The country's building safety laws state that authorizations have to be issued by the relevant authorities in advance of any construction project, or else management confront fines and jail time. If a violation leads to loss of life, this can result in up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to 8bn rupiah (nearly $500,000). Apology from School Leadership The school's caretaker, a well-known Islamic cleric in East Java, offered a official statement in a rare public statement a day after the tragedy. “This is certainly divine destiny so we must all be patient, and may God replace it with something better, with a result much better,” he said. “We must be confident that God will bless those impacted by this tragedy with significant compensation.” Continuing Probe Judicial probes involving Muslim clerics are still delicate in the largest predominantly Muslim country. There has been silence from facility management since the incident. “We will examine this matter in detail,” East Java's top law enforcement officer announced on Sunday. “Our probe also requires input from a team of structural engineers to ascertain whether failure by the school caused the deaths.”