Slamet Wibowo, Putu Ayu Pratama Sugiyo, Jakarta – Trapped for three days beneath the rubble of an Islamic boarding school, 14-year-old Al Fatih Cakra Buana survived with nothing but prayers and a thin stream of water delivered through a hose by rescuers.

Al Fatih was performing afternoon prayers when the prayer hall of the Al-Khoziny Islamic boarding school suddenly gave way on Sept. 29, burying dozens of students under concrete. "I heard a loud rumble and tried to run, but I was crushed by the falling debris," he recalled from his hospital bed on Saturday. "When I woke up, it was dark and I couldn't move."

For days, his only connection to life outside was the faint voices of rescue workers urging him to hold on. "They gave me water through a small hose and kept telling me to be patient," he said. "At one point, I thought no one would come. But then I saw light through a hole, that was the moment I knew I would live."

Now recovering in a local hospital, Al Fatih described his survival as nothing short of divine intervention. "This is a miracle from God," he whispered, adding that he still hopes more of his classmates will be found alive. His father, Abdul Hanan, called it "a gift from Allah" and praised the tireless work of rescue teams.

Another survivor, 16-year-old Nanang Saifur Rizal, said the musala's bamboo scaffolding gave way during the third rakah of prayer as construction was underway on the upper floor. "It felt like an earthquake. The building just collapsed," he recalled. His head was briefly pinned under metal beams before he managed to crawl out half an hour later. "I saw friends having seizures, some couldn't move. I was lucky to be near a small opening."

Nanang escaped with minor injuries but admitted the trauma lingers. "Sometimes I still panic and remember the moment everything fell," he said.

Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) confirmed on Saturday that nine bodies recovered from the rubble have yet to be identified, as most of the victims were minors without official documents.

"The difficulty lies in the fact that these victims are still children. They don't have ID cards or fingerprint data, so DNA matching with their families is required," BNPB chief Suharyanto told reporters. He said visual identification was no longer possible because of the condition of the remains.

As of Saturday morning, BNPB reported that 118 people had been accounted for out of the 167 believed to be inside the prayer hall when it collapsed. Of those, 104 were rescued alive while 14 were confirmed dead. "Based on current data, there are still 49 people missing. We hope they can be found soon," Suharyanto said.

Search and rescue teams from the military, police, and local disaster agencies continue to work around the clock, deploying heavy machinery and trucks to clear the wreckage. Families of the missing have been keeping vigil nearby, clinging to any sign of life.

For Al Fatih and Nanang, survival has brought relief as well as sorrow. "I just hope my friends can also be saved," Al Fatih said softly.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/i-thought-no-one-would-come-survivors-recount-sidoarjo-school-collaps