EAST JAVA SCHOOL COLLAPSE LEAVES 10 DEAD, RESCUE ONGOING

By Mohd Iswandi Kasan Anuar

JAKARTA, Oct 3 (Bernama) -- Indonesian rescuers recovered five more bodies from the ruins of a collapsed Islamic boarding school in East Java on Friday, raising the death toll to 10.

The four-storey building collapsed on Monday afternoon while workers were pouring concrete on the top floor, burying students and labourers under the rubble.

According to the National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS), the bodies were taken to Bhayangkara Police Hospital in Surabaya for identification.

"At least 113 people were affected by the collapse, with 103 accounted for alive," SAR mission coordinator Yudhi Bramantyo said in a statement.

He noted that 23 people have been pulled from the rubble so far and that search operations are continuing.

Rescue teams had to break through collapsed concrete walls and cut through steel reinforcements to free victims trapped inside, he added.

Meanwhile, 54 people are still missing, according to the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).

-- BERNAMA