Indonesia school building collapse (update): Death toll rises to 37

The death toll from the collapse of a school building in Indonesia's East Java province has risen to 37, regional rescue authorities said Sunday. About 25 people remain missing, and thus the death toll is expected to rise. Nanang Sigit, head of the East Java Search and Rescue Office, said in a statement issued by the office that the excavation work has been challenging as victims were buried under the rubble.

Part of the multi-storey Al Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in Sidoarjo district caved in on Monday during unauthorized renovation, trapping dozens of students. Rescuers deployed heavy machinery on Thursday after no further signs of life were detected. Earlier, they had relied mainly on manual excavation out of concern that heavy equipment could cause further collapse.

Investigators are still determining the cause of the collapse, though early assessments suggest poor construction quality may have played a role. In all, national disaster agency official Budi Irawan reported that the recovery efforts were about 60 percent complete and expressed hope that the operation would soon be finished.