‘No signs of life’: Hopes turn to anguish in Indonesia school collapse

As authorities shift their focus from rescuing to recovery, dozens of students feared trapped in rubble at a collapsed boarding school in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia, are now in agony.

At the Al-Khoziny Islamic Boarding School, thermal drones and other equipment found “no additional signs of life,” according to Suharyanto, the head of Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency, at a press conference on Thursday.

When they learned the news, their relatives fell to the ground in the nearby streets and cried in agony.

To aid in recovery efforts, authorities promised to use powerful machinery.

They had previously opposed hiring excavators to remove the debris out of fear of harming those still trapped inside.

As rescuers continue to painstakingly sort through the debris for the 59 people who are believed missing, authorities have sealed off the school, which officials claim fell as construction workers were laying concrete on the fourth floor of the building.

However, the smell of decomposing bodies was pervasive even hundreds of meters away.

A junior police officer who was present at the scene, who declined to be identified, said that the missing were “all dead.”

He claimed that the majority of the school’s students had perished for a long time.

On Thursday, family members who have been sleeping at the scene since Monday, when the building collapsed, gathered at a tent on the site to give DNA samples in the hopes of identifying their loved ones.

As Surabaya doctors prepared to take a buccal swab, Ahmad Ichsan, whose 14-year-old son Arif Affandi is thought to be trapped, wipes away tears and murmurs a prayer.

According to Ichsan, who is from Madura, an island located 33 kilometers northeast of Sidoarjo, “he has been at the boarding school for two years and four months.”

“I sent him to school here so that he would learn how to be a good son, follow his parents, and serve his country,” he said.

Ichsan claimed to have learned of the child’s collapse from the parent of his son’s class.

“I left the school right away. He continued, “I’ve been here ever since.”

“I still have hope that he is still alive,” he said. “They haven’t found him yet.

Five students were discovered alive in the collapsed building late on Wednesday night, raising hopes that more could be saved.

As the “golden window,” the crucial 72-hour period cited by experts as crucial for keeping disaster victims alive, expired on Thursday, those hopes seemed to grow more fragile.

More than 100 people have been injured and five students have already been confirmed dead.

Muhammad Sobir expressed hope that Nurdin, his 13-year-old son, would be found alive.

He will be found alive, according to God willing. He declared to Al Jazeera, “I’ll stay here until they find him.”

Nurdin, who is close to Madura, &nbsp, had only been a four-month student there, according to Sobir.

Because it offers a high-quality education, we chose this boarding school. He said that Nurun is a good boy, a good boy, and he is very diligent with his studies.

Sobir claimed that his main concern was not the collapse of the school, but that he did not know what had caused it.

He said, “I don’t know what happened, but I can’t at this time think about that.”

“I watched what occurred on television,” he said. No one has seen my boy despite the fact that I was watching it on the news at the time.

Nur Fatria, Sobir’s wife, also gave the forensic team a buccal swab.

She told Al Jazeera, “I can’t even tell you how I feel about taking this test.”

“I’m still perplexed and shocked.” I’m no longer sure how I feel. I’ve been staying here for four days.

According to Deris, a forensic police officer, DNA samples are being requested from both the missing’ parents so that they can be cross-referenced.

Deris, who goes by one name like many Indonesians, told Al Jazeera, “We take buccal swabs and then send them to the lab to be tested against the DNA of the corpses that are found at the site.”

Then, to see if DNA samples from the victim’s bones or another body part match, we will take them.

Hayyi, a 23-year-old student, said he was anticipating the arrival of his younger brother, 15-year-old Ahmad Suhavi, who he last saw during the summer holidays, several months ago.

Hayyi told Al Jazeera, “He just said he was returning to the classroom, and I wish him well.”

We haven’t received any updates about his status and we don’t know where he’s located in the classroom.

Source: Aljazeera