Three dead after Indonesian school building collapses

Three people have been killed as Indonesian rescuers race to find 38 people feared trapped beneath the rubble of an Islamic boarding school that collapsed in East Java during afternoon prayers.

There were 99 people who survived and were taken to hospital following Monday's collapse at the Al Khoziny boarding school in Sidoarjo, a town about 780km east of Jakarta, according to Mohammad Syafii, head of Indonesia's search and rescue agency.

Heavy slabs of concrete and other rubble and unstable parts of the building hampered rescue efforts, said Nanang Sigit, a search and rescue officer.

Heavy equipment was available but not being used due to concerns that it could cause further collapse.

Earlier on Tuesday, disaster mitigation agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said the unstable building collapsed during construction.

"This sudden occurrence caused building material to fall on dozens of students and workers," he said.

An excavator and a crane were among the heavy equipment that searchers were using to shift the rubble.

Nanang Sigit, a local search and rescue official, said 38 people remained missing and authorities would not use heavy equipment for fear of causing the remaining structure to collapse.

Video images from news channel KompasTV showed families of students clustered around a whiteboard looking at a list of survivors. Relatives wailed as they watched rescuers pull a dusty, injured student from the buried prayer hall.

The disaster mitigation agency said the building's foundations allegedly could not support the weight of construction on its fourth floor.

Basarnas chief Mohammad Syafii said the rescue operation will continue around the clock to maximise the "golden time" for saving lives.

TV footage showed rescue workers asking a trapped boy if he was okay. "It's painful all over," the boy replied.

Indonesia's construction sector has a poor safety record, with the International Labour Organisation rating it among the worst globally.

Earlier this month, at least four people were killed and dozens injured when a building where people had gathered for a prayer recital collapsed suddenly in West Java.

with Reuters and DPA