Monday afternoon, the Al Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia, made local headlines with a horrific accident. This horrific attack has resulted in an unprecedented loss of American life and injury. More than 160 children were in the confined, two-storey building when the structure collapsed, triggering a nationwide call for rescue teams to respond. That number was later found to have tragically increased to 66, confirmed by Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS).
During this tragedy, an estimated 90 kids were able to flee as the structure started to fall and fail around them. Many were less lucky, getting pinned down in the debris. Rescuers labored day and night for more than 72 hours in hope of finding survivors. Their launchpad was the need to locate the living within the critically short “golden window” after a disaster.
Rescue Efforts Amidst Rising Tensions
As the search for survivors turned into a recovery effort, the operations to rescue those trapped beneath rubble changed. As a committed rescuer, Nur Hadi Santoso, recount how he experienced the operation. He described the day he pushed a hose through the wreckage. His only mission was to get drinking water to a little girl still stuck under the rubble.
“I remember about 24 hours in I heard a boy’s scream near me — I thought I had to give him water,” – Nur Hadi Santoso
Santoso described the conditions that rescuers faced. Most of the children still stayed stuck or trapped in small crevices, no bigger than their own bodies. Even in the midst of all this horror, we saw moments of humanity as children passed water to their classmates who had been trapped.
“He took the hose and shared the water with his friends,” – Nur Hadi Santoso
Emi Freezer thanked rescuers for each life saved in the traumatic episode. She focused on the emotional burden of their work.
“It’s truly a gift for us, nothing compares — it’s a reward we’ll carry for life,” – Emi Freezer
The Moment of Collapse
Witnesses for whom it was a day that started out normal and promising recounted scenes of horror and devastation with heartrending detail. Fourteen year-old student Mohammad Fathulbari remembered going to Qur’an reading just before the roof came tumbling down. One drop that does have a life-or-death consequence, however, is the drop which caused the initial concern of Mr.
“During the Qur’an reading before the prayer, I noticed something falling from the ceiling,” – Mohammad Fathulbari
Fathulbari’s survival instincts took over, imploring him to search for his cousin even as the devastation rained down. Others immediately rushed to snatch him up, arguing that safety must take priority over an extended search.
“But I brushed it off, thinking maybe it wasn’t concrete, just something else dropping,” – Mohammad Fathulbari
This heartbreaking incident has since sparked wider concerns regarding the safety standards of school buildings at campuses throughout Indonesia. The Disaster Mitigation Agency concluded that a “technological failure in construction” led to the collapse. This discovery points to potential recklessness during construction.
Calls for Accountability and Reform
Structural engineering expert Mudji Irmawan told local media the collapse should remind builders to always observe strict standards in construction. Underscoring a passion for enforcement, he harped on protecting the sanctity of existing regulations. Let this calamity be a clarion call to all those connected with the design, creation and maintenance of our learning environments.
When most Indonesian boarding schools make extensions or renovations, they have been criticized for skipping permit requirements. This accountability gap presents a public safety and accountability crisis in these otherwise privileged institutions. After the incident, Indonesia’s Religious Affairs Minister promised to do something. So no matter how remote any pesantren might be, he committed that future construction would always adhere to all safety codes.
As families, hearts are still breaking and communities are still reeling from this preventable tragedy. Naturally, many of us are already thinking about how we can prevent this kind of devastation from happening again in the future. Ayuli, a parent of one of the victims alongside her daughter Asiad, spoke about her heartbreak but kept hope alive even through her mourning.
“We’re not blaming anyone … we’re religious people and we believe we each have our own destiny,” – Ayuli
