🔗 Share this article Disaster at Indonesia's School: Fatalities Rises to 49 as Hunt for Missing Students Continues Indonesia's emergency crews recovered dozens additional victims over the weekend, raising the official fatality count to 49 after a worship space at an Muslim educational institution fell down last week. Focused Rescue Operations Ongoing Using large machinery equipped with breaking equipment, circular saws and sometimes their bare hands, emergency personnel extracted tons of rubble in a urgent attempt to find the 14 pupils reportedly still lost. Rescuers uncovered 35 victims over the past few days alone, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency. Sequence of the Heartbreaking Incident The construction crashed down on top of numerous of students – mainly male students ranging from 12 to 19 – on 29 September at the 100-year-old boarding school in East Java. Of those rescued, 97 were treated for multiple injuries and released. Six others experienced serious wounds and were still under medical care on Sunday. Cause of Building Failure Identified Law enforcement claim that additional floors were being added to the original structure without a official authorization, leading to structural failure. This has triggered broad outrage over illegal construction in the country. “The construction failed to withstand the weight while the building material was being poured [to build] the additional level because it violated standards and the whole 800-square-metres construction collapsed,” explained a structural engineer from an engineering university. The specialist also noted that scholars ought not to have been permitted inside a facility under construction. Official Response The local district head confirmed the educational facility's leadership had not requested the required permit before initiating building work. “Various constructions, such as traditional boarding school extensions, in non-urban areas were constructed in the absence of a construction license,” the administrator said. Judicial Consequences The country's construction regulations dictate that authorizations have to be provided by the competent officials in advance of any construction, or else owners risk fines and imprisonment. If a infraction causes fatalities, this can lead to up to 15 years in incarceration and a penalty of up to 8bn local currency (nearly $500,000). Address from Facility Management The institution's manager, a respected religious leader in East Java, issued a official statement in a unusual address a day after the incident. “This is certainly a test from God so we must all be resigned, and may God compensate with something better, with an outcome much better,” he remarked. “We must be assured that God will reward those impacted by this event with significant rewards.” Continuing Probe Legal probes concerning Islamic scholars remain contentious in the world's most populous Islamic country. There has been silence from facility management since the tragedy. “We will investigate this incident comprehensively,” the province's top law enforcement officer announced on Sunday. “Our investigation also demands expertise from a team of construction experts to determine whether failure by the school resulted in the fatalities.”