Indonesia school collapse death toll rises to 37

In Indonesia, the death toll from the collapse of a boarding school in East Java province has risen to 37, regional rescue authorities said Sunday. Rescuers battle to recover dozens of students believed still buried under the rubble. Hundreds of students, most of them teenage boys, were inside the Al-Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in the town of Sidoarjo when it collapsed on Monday. As of Saturday, we are still searching  people who are still missing, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency chief Suharyanto. He further said victim identification had been complicated by the fact that most of the victims were under 18 and did not have government identity cards or fingerprint records. More victims could be found, Suharyanto said, as rescuers moved to use heavy machinery to clear locations where the victims were believed to be buried underneath the rubble.
The school collapse was so violent that it sent tremors across the neighbourhood, according to residents. Investigators have been looking into the cause of the collapse, but initial signs pointed to substandard construction, experts have said. The rescue operation was complex because vibrations in one place could affect other areas, officials said. As per media reports, the rescue operation was complicated by an earthquake that struck overnight on Sept 30, briefly halting the search.