Indonesian rescuers race to find dozens of students in rubble of collapsed school

SIDOARJO, Indonesia (AP) — Rescue workers continued to search on Wednesday for dozens of missing students suspected of still being buried under the rubble of a collapsed school in the province of East Java.

The death toll following the incident on Monday has risen to six, according to Yudhi Bramantyo, Deputy Chief of Operations National Search and Rescue Agency.

Five survivors were successfully rescued after a tunnel was dug at the base of the building to their location.

“Their conditions were better as they were detected yesterday. They can communicate since yesterday while their bodies are covered by concrete. We have been able to provide food and drink support since yesterday,” Bramantyo said.

Rescuers are racing against the clock in the search for other survivors, with dozens of students still unaccounted for, he added.

The structure fell on top of hundreds of people at about 2:30 p.m. on Monday in a prayer hall at the century-old al Khoziny Islamic boarding school in Sidoarjo, on the eastern side of Indonesia’s Java island.

The students were mostly boys in grades seven to 12, between ages 12 and 18. Female students were praying in another part of the building and managed to escape, survivors said.

Most rescues typically happen within 24 hours after such disasters, with chances of survival decreasing each day after. More than 300 workers continued to work to try and reach those who have been detected to be still alive and trapped below.

“We hope that we can complete this operation soon," Mohammad Syafii, head of Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency, told reporters. “We are currently racing against time because it is possible that we can still save lives of those we have detected within the golden hours.”

In a sign of hope, rescuers pulled one boy out alive on Wednesday afternoon, loading him gently onto a stretcher to be taken to a hospital. His condition was not immediately known.

Of the approximately 100 injured, more than two dozen are still hospitalized, with many said to have suffered head injuries and broken bones, authorities said.

Before Wednesday's rescue, Syafii's agency said at least six children were alive under the rubble, but the search has been complicated with the slabs of concrete and other parts of the building remaining unstable. Heavy equipment is available but is not currently being used due to concerns that could cause further collapse.

Rescuers in hardhats crawled through tight passages made of concrete blocks, steel bars and rubble collapsed in the debris, chipping away at it with hammers and hand-held power tools to try and reach those still underneath.

Oxygen, water and food has been sent through narrow gaps to those still trapped under the debris to keep them alive. Search teams have also used detectors and thermal drones to detect potential survivors who could be rescued.

The Islamic boarding school was undergoing an unauthorized expansion to add two new levels when it collapsed during afternoon prayers, authorities said. The prayer hall was two stories high but two more were being added without a permit, according to authorities. Police said the old building’s foundation was apparently unable to support two floors of concrete and collapsed during the pouring process.

Authorities initially said 38 people were missing, but revised that upward on Tuesday after consulting attendance lists and talking with families.

“In the early stages there will inevitably be some confusion about the data,” said Suharyanto, the head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, who only goes by one name as is common in Indonesia.

Tarigan reported from Jakarta, Indonesia.

Rescuers search for victims trapped under the rubble after a building under construction collapsed, at an Islamic boarding school in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Trisnadi)

Rescuers carry a survivor who was pulled out from the rubble after a building under construction collapsed at an Islamic boarding school in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Alam Syahirul)

Family members of students wait in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, as rescue works are underway for victims trapped under the rubble after a building under construction collapsed at an Islamic boarding school. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)

Rescuers search for victims after a building under construction collapsed, at an Islamic boarding school in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Trisnadi)

Rescuers search for victims trapped under the rubble after a building under construction collapsed, at an Islamic boarding school in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Trisnadi)

A woman weeps as rescue works are underway for victims trapped under the rubble after a building under construction collapsed at an Islamic boarding school in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Trisnadi)

Rescuers search for victims trapped under the rubble after a building collapsed at an Islamic boarding school in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Trisnadi)

Rescuers search for victims after a building under construction collapsed, at an Islamic boarding school in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Trisnadi)

Rescuers search for victims at the site where a building under construction collapsed at an Islamic boarding school in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Trisnadi)

Rescuers search for victims after a building under construction collapsed, at an Islamic boarding school in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Trisnadi)

Rescuers search for victims at the site where a building under construction collapsed at an Islamic boarding school in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Trisnadi)

Rescuers search for victims at the site where a building under construction collapsed at an Islamic boarding school in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Trisnadi)

Rescuers search for victims at the site where a building under construction collapsed at an Islamic boarding school in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Trisnadi)

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media that the U.S. Coast Guard had boarded the Motor Tanker Veronica early Thursday. She said the ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”

U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”

Noem posted a brief video that appeared to show part of the ship’s capture. The black-and-white footage showed helicopters hovering over the deck of a merchant vessel while armed troops dropped down on the deck by rope.

The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.

The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, it was partially filled with crude.

The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.

According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Galileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for moving cargoes of illicit Russian oil.

As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”

However, other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear that they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.

Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.

This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro's capture.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)