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.