Overview

• Officials began using excavators after consulting families, saying thermal drones and scanners detected no remaining signs of life under the debris.
• Five deaths have been confirmed, about 59 people are still unaccounted for, and more than 100 were injured with dozens hospitalized.
• Police and disaster officials say the building’s foundations failed as concrete was poured for additional floors that lacked required permits.
• Rescuers initially dug hand-dug tunnels and pulled five students out alive, but unstable rubble, vibration risks, and a narrow 60-centimetre access route slowed progress as the 72-hour survival window closed.
• National and local authorities pledged investigations and stricter enforcement of building standards at Islamic boarding schools, highlighting the wider problem of unpermitted construction.