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Indonesia concludes search for victims after boarding school collapse. 61 dead

Indonesian rescuers finished their search for victims under the rubble in East Java province on Tuesday after recovering more than 60 corpses, according to disaster authorities.

Last week, the small town Sidoarjo was engulfed in grief and confusion after the Al Khoziny School collapsed on hundreds of people - mostly teenagers - while they were praying. Most escaped.

In a statement the disaster mitigation agency announced that all 61 bodies in the building had been located, along with seven body parts police are trying identify. The search was halted for the worst disaster of the year, which it called.

Mohammad Syafii is the chief of the Search and Rescue Agency. After authorities removed the debris, he said, "Operations due the collapsed structure at the Al Khoziny School... are now officially closed."

Budi Irawan is the deputy chief of the agency.

The rescuers used cranes and excavators to lift huge chunks of concrete. As they dug through the tunnels, rescuers shouted names of those presumed still alive.

Al Khoziny, also known as a pesantren in Arabic, is one of over 42,000 schools of this type across the country. Only 50 have building permits, according to the Public Works Ministry.

It was impossible to determine if Al Khoziny possessed a permit or contact school authorities. Media reported that Sidoarjo Chief Subandi said last week the school allegedly did not have a permit. (Reporting and editing by Clarence Fernandez; Stanley Widianto)

(source: Reuters)