‘No more signs of life’ at Java school

Rescuers fear 59 still buried under rubble

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Relatives of missing students are seen behind a barricade tape as rescuers search for survivors at the Al Khoziny Islamic boarding school in Sidzarjo, East Java province on Wednesday after a multi-storey building at the school collapsed.

(AFP)

Rescuers detected “no more signs of life” at a collapsed Indonesian school where 59 people were believed missing days after it gave way, an official said yesterday, raising fears no more survivors would be found.

Part of the multi-storey boarding school on the main island of Java suddenly collapsed on Monday as students gathered for afternoon prayers.

After days of rescue operations, 59 people were still feared buried under the rubble after at least five people had been confirmed dead.

“We used high-tech equipment like thermal drones, and, scientifically, there were no more signs of life,” said Suharyanto, the head of the country's disaster mitigation agency.

Distraught and tearful families waited anxiously near the site for news of their loved ones. Residents near the school offered the families to stay in their homes as they waited, AFP saw.