SIDULJO, Indonesia (AP) – A rescuer wearing a hard hat has scraped pieces with hand tools to try to reach the survivors after rescuers who raw up a tight passage of concrete tile bleeds were trapped in the Monday collapse of the prayer hall of an Indonesian Islamic school.
Some of the survivors were communicating with rescuers who worked to free them.
“Son, how old are you?” the rescuer team asked the trapped student.
“16,” he replied in a video released Wednesday by Indonesia’s search and rescue agency.
The student confirmed to the rescuer that he was not injured, but his torso was stuck in pieces of a collapsed building.
“Put it, okay? Haikal…where are you?” The rescuer called out to the 13-year-old boy, reassuring the older student.
“Yes! I’m here,” replied Heikal. When asked what hurts, he said: my whole body. ”
“Patied, son… we’re trying to get you out now,” the rescue team said.
The 16- and 13-year-olds were rescued Wednesday after a tunnel about 70 cm (27.5 inches) was dug into the location from under the building’s base, along with three other students.
“Their condition has improved as it was detected yesterday. Since yesterday, we have been able to communicate while our bodies are specifically covered. We have been able to provide food and drink support since Tuesday.”
The search was complicated by debris instability, and heavy machinery was not used due to concerns that could further collapse.
The rescuers were racing for the clock to find the survivors.
Abdul Muhari, a spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency, said in a statement on Thursday morning that 59 people were still buried in the Kura Rub. The revision was due to a variety of factors, including some of those listed as surviving or not present at the scene when the collapse occurred.
Muhari said that on Thursday it was confirmed that there were five instead of six after data from the hospital was verified.
Of the approximately 105 injuries, more than 20 are still hospitalized, with many reportedly suffering head injuries or fractures.
The structure fell on hundreds of people Monday in the prayer hall of the Arkozyni Islamic Boarding School, a century ago, in Sidu Alho, on the eastern side of Java, Indonesia.
The students were 7th to 12th grade boys, ages 12 to 19.
Authorities say the building is two stories but two more stories were added without permission. Police said the old building’s foundation was clearly unable to support the concrete on the second floor and collapsed during the injection process.
Hundreds of families awaiting their loved ones at boarding school worryingly, ever since hearing about the incident on Monday. They slept in the school hallways on a mattress where local governments provided ample food, snacks and drinks.
“You can’t give up. You have to believe that your son is still alive. He is an overactive boy… he is very strong,” Hafia said.
Her son, Muhammad Abdul-Roman Nafis, is 15 years old and is in ninth grade.
She recalls that when he visited him on Sunday, a day before his friend said Nafis had been attacked in the collapse, he enjoyed and ate his favorite sateis.
She said Nafis graduated from Arkogyny’s middle school in a few months and hopes to continue his education at Mechanical Engineering High School.
“I couldn’t get close to him… maybe he was starved in pain, but I couldn’t help him,” Hafia said.
___
Associated Press journalists Fadlan Syam and Achmad Ibrahim were contributed to this report by Achmad Ibrahim of Sidoarjo, Indonesia.
