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While the prayer call echoed across the Islamic school in East Java on Monday afternoon, the surface beneath dozens of students collapsed without warning as they prayed.

The entire structure of the institution crumbled in an instant that a rescue official labeled it a “pancake” disaster.

Persistent Rescue Efforts

Seventy-two hours later, authorities suspect that 59 people, largely teenage boys, remain pinned under the wreckage with at least five declared deceased.

Gatherings of weeping guardians were camped out on makeshift beds outside the disaster area on Wednesday, some scanning their handsets, others gathered by a list displayed by the search team showing the identities of those still not yet found.

“No apology has been offered from the management of the religious school, they even attempted to blame the other party,” stated one parent, who was desperately hoping for news of her 16-year-old son.

She final contact with her boy just a little time before the building gave way, as she recounted, sharing the last text messages he sent her about his health, and a request for more pocket money.

Construction Quality Questions

Investigations into the cause of the collapse are underway, but preliminary findings suggest poor building practices, specialists have stated.

“Had the building been properly constructed, then if the edifice crumbles, it should break. It should not be warped and pliable like this educational facility,” said emergency responder a specialist, “It's clearly foundational failure.”

Others have raised doubts about why the worshippers were permitted to conduct prayers on the ground level, while construction on the higher stories was occurring above.

An official representative for the country's rescue organization, Abdul Muhari, said the Islamic school fell after its support columns failed to support the weight of new construction on the top level.

Relative Torment

One relative, the boy's aunt, said, “Ever since the incident, we have not wanted to eat because we are worried about the safety of our boy.”

That same day, a worried father was anxiously turning rosary in his grip as he anticipated news about his teenager his boy. He explained he came straight to the site when he was informed of the collapse but, up to this point, there had been “no information”.

Search Obstacles

The head of rescue operations, director of the national rescue organization said the emergency response is continuing but remains challenging.

Excavation itself is fraught with risks, including potential landslides, he warned, and each passageway will only offer an way in around two feet across because of the structure’s concrete columns.

“If vibration happens in a single area, it could affect nearby sections. So at present, to reach the area where the victims are, we have to dig an underground tunnel,” he informed the media.

Modern equipment, including heat-detecting UAVs, is being utilized to find those still alive and the deceased as the critical three-day window for optimal rescue outcomes approaches its conclusion.

The archipelago nation, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, has over thirty thousand Islamic boarding schools, called Islamic schools, according to national records.