SIDULJO, Indonesia (AP) – Indonesian rescue authorities made a tough decision on Thursday to use heavy machinery to move A large part of the school that collapsedThere were no more signs of life from under the tile rub. And nearly 60 teenage students have yet to be explained for three days since the building fell into a cave.
Indonesia’s Minister of Human Development and Culture, Pratykno told reporters at the scene of Sidulho that the decision was made in consultation with the families of people who are still missing.
Five students were rescued on Wednesday by workers who used hand tools only to ring a tunnel into the tiled rub. Pratykno said on Thursday that the work will proceed with great caution, despite no further detection of life’s signs.
“In any case, be very careful when using heavy machines,” said Pratikno, who only has names that are common in Indonesia.
The structure fell on hundreds of people Monday in the prayer hall of the Arkozyni Islamic Boarding School, a century ago, in Sidu Alho, on the eastern side of Java, Indonesia.
Authorities say the building is two stories but two more stories were added without permission. Police said the old building’s foundation was clearly unable to support the concrete on the second floor and collapsed during the injection process.
Five people have been confirmed to have been murdered so far, and of the approximately 105 injured, more than 20 are still hospitalized, with many reportedly suffering head injuries or broken bones.
The students were 7th to 12th grade boys, ages 12 to 19. The female student was praying in another part of the building and managed to escape, the survivors said.
Most rescues usually occur within 24 hours of such a disaster, and survival can steadily decrease over time.
Nearly 220 workers were on the scene on Thursday, with an ambulance ready to take survivors who were soon found at the hospital. However, authorities also brought in a large amount of body bags. This is an implicit recognition that the likelihood of finding a living person is decreasing rapidly.
“We no longer consider the possibility that there may be survivors remaining, but we will still be taking care of it.
The number of missing people fluctuated widely over the course of the three-day recovery effort, and Suharyant acknowledged that the authorities were not yet certain how many students to be buried, and made estimates based on school attendance and information from family members.
“We really hope that these 59 people are not under the tile rub,” he said. “It happened before that parents reported their child missing, but it turns out the children were somewhere else.
On Wednesday evening, hundreds of families were waiting worriedly for news of their loved ones at boarding school, which arrived Monday after hearing about the incident. They filled the school corridors with mattresses provided by the local government to sleep and were given food, snacks and drinks.
“You can’t give up. You have to believe that your son is still alive. He is an overactive boy… he is very strong,” Hafia said.
Her son, Muhammad Abdul-Roman Nafis, is 15 years old and is in ninth grade.
She recalls that he enjoyed and ate his favorite sateis when he visited him on Sunday the day before his friend told her he was inside the building where Nafis collapsed.
She said Nafis graduated from Arkogyny’s middle school in a few months and hopes to continue his education at Mechanical Engineering High School.
Hafia talked about how she felt she could not reach her son and help him. “I can’t give up because the rescue team is now trying to help our kids,” she said.
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Alankara reported from Jakarta. Associated Press journalists Fadlan Syam and Achmad Ibrahim, Sidoarjo, Indonesia, and David Rising of David Rising contributed to this report.
