An Islamic boarding school collapsed in Indonesia’s East Java province on September 29, 2025, trapping dozens of people under debris during afternoon prayers.
The death toll has risen to 17, following the recovery of multiple bodies, and more than 50 students are still missing (exact numbers vary by source), with about 49 unaccounted for as of October 4. At least 102 injured were also confirmed.
The Al-Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in Sidoarjo collapsed at approximately 3 p.m. as students were gathering for afternoon prayers.
Authorities indicated that the school’s foundation pillars gave way as crews were concreting the fourth floor of the building. The collapse trapped dozens of people under the rubble, prompting an extensive search and rescue operation involving multiple agencies.
Search operations continued as rescuers worked to locate the people still believed to be trapped under the collapsed structure. Emergency response teams focused their efforts on assessing the site, monitoring the remaining building structure, and preparing evacuation routes for any additional victims.
The disaster management agency released a statement on social media outlining the ongoing response efforts. Officials emphasized that teams on the ground were prioritizing site assessment and structural monitoring to ensure the safety of rescue operations while searching for survivors.
A 13-year-old named Haikal spent days trapped under rubble before being found.
This building collapse marks the second such incident in Indonesia in less than a month. On September 3, at least three people died and dozens were injured when a community hall hosting a Quran recital collapsed in West Java’s Bogor district.
The disaster management agency noted that the incident highlighted the need for stricter implementation of construction safety standards. Officials emphasized that the public and managers of multistory buildings should ensure technical supervision during construction to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
The collapsed Islamic boarding school was located in Sidoarjo, a regency in East Java province. The facility housed students who lived on campus while attending religious and academic classes as part of the traditional Islamic boarding school system common throughout Indonesia.
Emergency medical teams established multiple treatment centers to handle the influx of injured victims. The survivors transported to hospitals suffered various degrees of injuries from the building collapse, though specific details about the severity of injuries have not been released by authorities.
The National Search and Rescue Agency had initially provided provisional data indicating that about 100 students were caught up in the collapse. Updated figures confirmed that 102 people total were affected by the incident, with the majority surviving the structural failure.
Rescue operations continued around the clock as teams worked systematically through the debris field. The complex nature of the collapsed four-story structure made the search challenging, requiring careful removal of concrete and steel to avoid further structural instability.
The timing of the collapse during afternoon prayers meant that many students were gathered in common areas of the building when the structure failed. This concentration of people in specific locations guided rescue teams in focusing their search efforts on areas where survivors were most likely to be found.
Indonesian authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the building collapse, particularly focusing on the construction standards and safety protocols followed during the building’s construction and recent fourth-floor addition. The investigation will examine whether proper engineering oversight was maintained during the concrete work that was underway when the structure failed.
Because no signs of life were detected in later search operations, teams were using heavy machinery and shifted toward recovery mode.