Rescuers searching for people trapped under a collapsed school in Indonesia on Thursday are hoping to dig a tunnel, at the risk of destabilising the rubble, to reach an estimated 59 still missing.

Part of the multi-storey boarding school on the main island of Java suddenly gave way on Monday as students gathered for afternoon prayers.

School records showed 91 people were buried under the rubble, according to the National Disaster and Mitigation Agency, and at least five people have been confirmed dead.

Around 59 people remained trapped as of Wednesday night, agency spokesman Abdul Muhari said in a statement on Thursday, cautioning that the data was "dynamic and changing" as some people who survived the incident have not yet come forward.

Distraught and tearful families waited anxiously

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