Indonesian Building Collapse Leaves Three Dead

(Indonesia, 8th) – A building on Indonesia's Java Island used for prayers collapsed on Sunday (September 7th), resulting in at least three deaths and dozens of injuries.
According to AFP, local disaster mitigation agency official Mohammad Adam said that at the time, about 100 people had gathered in a community building in Bogor City, West Java Province, to recite the Quran in honor of the birthday of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad. The building suddenly collapsed. Among these 100 people, the majority were women.
Mohammad Adam said: "Preliminary data shows that 84 people received medical treatment and three people died."
He speculated that the building, used as a meeting hall and place of worship, may have collapsed due to overcrowding. “Perhaps the building’s structure was not strong enough. People were enthusiastically participating in the Prophet’s birthday celebration.”
He added that all those present have been accounted for. The injured were sent to nearby hospitals for treatment, with most suffering only minor injuries.
Mohammad Adam, quoting eyewitnesses, said that there was no rain at the time of the incident, nor did it seem that a landslide had occurred.
Indonesia’s lax construction standards have sparked widespread concerns about building safety.
In 2023, part of a five-storey building in Jakarta collapsed, injuring two people. In 2022, a three-storey mini-mart in South Kalimantan Province collapsed, resulting in five deaths. In 2018, in Cirebon, east of Jakarta, a building where teenagers were rehearsing a musical collapsed, killing seven. In the same year, the mezzanine of the Indonesia Stock Exchange building in Jakarta collapsed into the lobby, injuring 75 people.