There are “no signs of life” under the wreckage of a collapsed Indonesian school where 59 people are still missing, rescuers have said.
Hundreds of students, most of them teenage boys, were inside the two-storey Islamic boarding school in the town of Sidoarjo when it collapsed on Monday. At least five students were killed and about 100 injured, officials said.
Thirteen people have been freed from the debris since rescue efforts began, though two later died in hospital. Rescue operations had been challenging due to the unstable structure of the building.
On Thursday, the disaster mitigation agency (BNBP) said rescuers using thermal drones failed to detect signs of life from the rubble.
“Last night, we even [cleared] the area to ensure silence. [We] hoped that with the use of sophisticated equipment… we might hear some signs of life,” Lt Gen Suharyanto, the head of the BNBP said at a press conference on Thursday afternoon.
“Scientifically, no signs of life were found.”
He added that the team had decided to move on to the “next phase” of operations – using heavy equipment to move slabs of concrete. These debris blocks will either be lifted using cranes or cut into smaller pieces.
Rescuers had not been able to do this earlier as there were fears it could lead the building to collapse further, risking the lives of any possible survivors.
Authorities had on Wednesday said crying and shouting could still be heard from under the rubble.
Anxious families are waiting at the school, many of them tearful but holding out hope that their loved ones are still alive.
“I am hoping for the best news, that my brother survives,” said Maulana Bayu Rizky Pratama, whose 17-year-old brother is missing, told AFP news agency.
“I hope my brother will be found soon. I feel sad thinking of him being down there for four days.”
Ahmad Ikhsan, 52, told Reuters: “I believe my son is still alive.”
The BNBP said on Wednesday that 59 people were still trapped in the rubble, though this figure has fluctuated greatly over the past few days, with Suharyanto earlier saying that data would always be “conflicting” in the “early stages” of a disaster.
The building was under construction when it collapsed, with two extra floors being added. The BNBP later said that the building’s unstable foundation meant it could not support this weight.
Sidoarjo town’s regent says the school’s management had not obtained permits to add more floors to the building.
