Rescue efforts turn to recovery at collapsed Indonesian school

Indonesian authorities have shifted from rescue to recovery operations after an Islamic boarding school in East Java province collapsed early this week, with officials confirming that no signs of life were detected, state-run media reported Friday.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Chief Suharyanto said heavy machinery will now be used to recover bodies, according to the Antara news agency.

"No more signs of life (are found). Hence, the SAR (joint search and rescue) team decided to proceed with the body retrieval with heavy equipment," Suharyanto said.

Senior officials also met with the families of victims outside the disaster site, where around 58 people remain unaccounted for, the report said.

"The victims' families agreed and requested us to continue the SAR operation with heavy equipment," he noted.

The joint search and rescue team had manually retrieved seven victims Wednesday evening -- five survivors and two fatalities -- as officers prioritized safety due to unstable debris.

Hundreds of students, most of them teenage boys, were inside the Al Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in the town of Sidoarjo when it collapsed Monday, killing at least five students and injuring around 100.

Thirteen people have so far been pulled out from the debris since the rescue operation began, though two later died in the hospital.