A police officer stacks coffins for victims of a building collapse at the Al Khoziny Islamic boarding school, at the Bhayangkara hospital in Surabaya, East Java province on Oct 4, 2025. (Photo: AFP/Juni Kriswanto)
JAKARTA: The death toll from an Indonesian school collapse rose to 37 on Sunday (Oct 5), officials said, as rescuers recovered more victims buried under the rubble.
Part of the multi-storey building on Indonesia's Java island suddenly collapsed on Monday as students gathered for afternoon prayers.
"As of Sunday morning, the number of recovered victims was 141 people. 104 were in safe condition, 37 were dead," national search and rescue agency operations director Yudhi Bramantyo said in a statement.
He added that 26 people were still missing.
The death toll included a body part that rescuers retrieved from the rubble on Saturday, Yudhi said.
The recovery operation was around "60 per cent" complete, national disaster agency official Budi Irawan told reporters, adding that he hoped it would be concluded soon.
"Our hope is that by tomorrow everything will be levelled and we can determine the approximate number of victims who are in the rubble," Budi said in a livestreamed press conference.
Local search and rescue agency head Nanang Sigit confirmed the death toll of 37 in a separate statement.
Investigators have been looking into the cause of the collapse, but initial signs pointed to substandard construction, according to experts.
The rescue operation was complex because vibrations in one place could affect other areas, officials said.
But the families of the missing agreed on Thursday for heavy equipment to be used, after the 72-hour "golden period" for the best chance of survival came to an end.
Lax construction standards have raised widespread concerns about building safety in Indonesia, where it is common to leave structures - particularly houses - partially completed, allowing owners to add extra floors later when their budgets permit.
Last month, at least three people were killed and dozens injured when a building hosting a prayer recital collapsed in West Java.
In 2018, seven teenagers rehearsing for a musical show were killed in Cirebon, east of Jakarta, when the building they were in collapsed.
That same year, at least 75 people were injured when the mezzanine floor at Indonesia's stock exchange building in Jakarta collapsed into the lobby.
