A rescue team crouched under huge slabs of concrete and corrugated iron as they carefully slid 13-year-old Syailendra Haikal to safety from the twisted wreckage of a collapsed Indonesian boarding school; a brief glimmer of hope in the middle of a disaster.

Haikal was taken to hospital with moderate injuries, authorities said. But as the search at the Al Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in Sidoarjo, about 420 miles east of Jakarta, entered its fourth day on Thursday, Indonesian authorities faced the agonizing decision to move from rescue to recovery.

Teams have for days meticulously tunneled under the rubble, crawling on their hands and knees searching for signs of life, knowing the unstable structure could again buckle upon them.

Relief and despair have punctuated their daring rescue mission as they slowly extracted a small number of children, while desperate family members clung to the hope their missing loved ones might too be found.

On Wednesday, seven teenage boys including Haikal were pulled from a pocket of the collapsed school — two of whom were found dead. Hopes are now fading for dozens of their classmates who remain buried.