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View all search resultsCalls grow for probe into deadly Sidoarjo school collapse
Lawmakers have joined the chorus of growing calls for a rigorous investigation into a prayer hall that collapsed on students at an Islamic boarding school in the East Java city, as the toll rises to at least 67 dead and over 100 injured in what is quickly becoming the worst nonnatural disaster of 2025.
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First responders carry a body bag on Oct. 6, 2025, amid ongoing search and rescue efforts at Pondok Pesantren Al Khoziny, an Islamic boarding school in Sidoarjo, East Java, where a three-story prayer hall collapsed on top of dozens of students on Sept. 29. (AFP/Juni Kriswanto)
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ublic calls are mounting for a thorough investigation into the collapse of a prayer hall at a pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in Sidoarjo, East Java, which has left 61 people dead and several others missing according to the official tally, as well as for legal action over alleged negligence that led to the disaster.
A three-story prayer hall at Pondok Pesantren Al Khoziny in the city’s Buduran district fell atop dozens of students on Sept. 29 as they were performing asar (afternoon prayer) on the ground floor, in one of the country’s deadliest nonnatural disasters this year.
As of Monday evening, members of a joint rescue team had recovered 61 bodies and were still searching for two missing students, based on the school’s attendance record.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday morning, Maj. Gen. Budi Irawan, emergency response deputy of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), said several unidentified body parts recovered at the site were believed to belong to the missing students.
“There are still two [students] unaccounted for according to our data, but seven body parts have been found. We will wait for the police’s disaster victim identification team to confirm whether they belong to those two victims,” Budi said.
Read also: Deadly boarding school collapse exposes failures in construction safety
Seventeen students have been identified among the dead, and their bodies have been returned to their families for burial.
