Surabaya, East Java (ANTARA) - The East Java Regional Police have confirmed their readiness to take legal action following the collapse of the Al Khoziny Islamic Boarding School building in Buduran sub-district, Sidoarjo District, once the identification process is completed.
“The East Java Police Chief said that we will pursue legal action in this case,” Head of Public Relations of the East Java Regional Police Senior Commissioner Jules Abraham Abast said in Surabaya on Tuesday (October 7).
Abast explained that the ongoing investigation will proceed to the preliminary investigation stage once the identification process concludes.
Meanwhile, the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team of the East Java Regional Police continues working to identify the victims’ bodies.
“We urge the public and the victims’ families to remain patient and allow the DVI team to complete their work so that all victims can be properly identified and returned to their families,” Abast added.
Earlier, the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) announced the completion of the victim search operation at the site. However, the identification process is still underway as part of post-disaster mitigation efforts.
“Regarding the structural evaluation of the building, we will also proceed with it. Sampling of steel bars and concrete will be conducted to support the inspection and cleanup process at the site,” Abast stated.
He emphasized that all stages of the response and investigation are being carried out professionally and in coordination with all relevant parties to ensure proper law enforcement.
As of Tuesday evening, the East Java Regional Police’s DVI team had identified 17 bodies from the Al Khoziny building collapse. This brings the total number of identified victims to 34 from the 67 body bags recovered.
Head of Basarnas Vice Marshal Mohammad Syafii said on Tuesday that out of the 171 victims, 104 were declared safe while 67 were confirmed dead.
“The joint rescue team successfully evacuated 171 victims, with 104 survivors and 67 deceased, eight of whom had missing body parts,” Syafii noted.
