Sidoarjo: Indonesian rescuers recovered the bodies of dozens of students over the weekend following the collapse of a prayer hall at an Islamic boarding school, bringing the confirmed death toll to 49, authorities said.

Rescue teams, using heavy excavators, jackhammers, circular saws, and sometimes their bare hands, continued searching for 14 students still missing after the collapse at the century-old Al Khoziny School in Sidoarjo, East Java. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency said 35 bodies were found over the weekend alone.

The structure, which collapsed on September 29, fell on top of hundreds of students — mostly boys aged between 12 and 19. Only one student escaped unharmed, while 97 others were treated and released after sustaining injuries. Six students remain hospitalised with serious injuries.

Authorities said the school's management was adding two extra floors to the existing two-story building without a construction permit, leading to structural failure. “The construction couldn't support the load while the concrete was being poured for the third floor,” said Mudji Irmawan, a construction expert from the Tenth November Institute of Technology, who added that students should not have been allowed inside a building under construction.

Sidoarjo district chief Subandi confirmed that the school had not obtained the required permit. Illegal and unregulated construction remains common in non-urban areas of Indonesia, officials noted.

Under Indonesia's 2002 Building Construction Code, construction without a permit can lead to fines and imprisonment, with penalties of up to 15 years in prison and fines of nearly USD 500,000 if deaths occur.

The school's caretaker, Abdus Salam Mujib, a respected Islamic cleric, offered a public apology, saying, “This is indeed God's will, so we must all be patient. May God replace it with goodness.”

East Java Police Chief Nanang Avianto said the case is under criminal investigation, with input from construction experts to determine whether negligence by the school led to the deaths.