BSS
  07 Sep 2025, 19:52

Indonesia building collapse kills 3, injures dozens: disaster official

Collected photo

JAKARTA, Sept 7, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - At least three people were killed and 
dozens were injured when a building hosting a prayer recital collapsed on 
Indonesia's main island of Java on Sunday, a disaster official said.

Around a hundred people, mostly women, had gathered for a Koran recital at a 
community hall in West Java's Bogor district to commemorate the prophet 
Mohammed's birthday when the building suddenly collapsed, said Mochamad Adam 
Hamdani, an official from the local disaster mitigation agency.

"According to initial data, 84 people are being treated, three people died," 
Adam told AFP Sunday.

He said it was likely the building, which was used as a meeting hall as well 
as a place of worship, collapsed because it was overcrowded.

"Perhaps the structure was not strong, as people were enthusiastic to follow 
the event to commemorate the prophet's birthday," Adam said.

All the people inside had been accounted for, he said.

Victims were immediately rushed to nearby hospitals, with the majority 
suffering minor injuries.

Adam, citing witnesses, said it was not raining at the time and there did not 
appear to have been a landslide.

Lax construction standards have raised widespread concerns about building 
safety in Indonesia.

In 2022, a three-storey minimarket in South Kalimantan collapsed and killed 
five people. Two people were also injured when a five-storey building in 
Jakarta partially collapsed two years earlier.

Teenagers rehearsing for a musical show were among seven people killed in 
Cirebon, east of Jakarta, in 2018 when the building they were in collapsed.

At least 75 people were also injured the same year when a mezzanine floor at 
Indonesia's stock exchange building in Jakarta collapsed into the lobby.