News
Albania hit by deadly 6.4 magnitude earthquake
The
quake brought down buildings and left people trapped under rubble. One man died
after jumping from a window in panic after the tremor struck.
The
quake hit 34km (21 miles) north-west of the capital, Tirana, in the early hours
of Tuesday.
Hours
later, a separate earthquake struck the city of Mostar in Bosnia. There were no
reports of casualties.
Albanian
Prime Minister Edi Rama said rescuers would "continue to search patiently
and thoroughly to the end".
"We
have victims. We are working to do everything possible in the affected
areas," he wrote on Twitter.
What has happened since the earthquake?
Soldiers,
police and emergency workers have been searching through the debris of
buildings, where people are still believed to be trapped. So far, some 42
survivors have been extracted from the ruins, according to officials.
The
majority of fatalities occurred in the coastal city of Durres and in the town
of Thumane, 40km to the north-west of Tirana and close to the epicentre,
according to the defence ministry.
In neighbouring
Kurbin, a man died after jumping from his building in panic, and another died
in a car accident when the earthquake tore open parts of the road he was on,
AFP reported the ministry as saying.
More
than 600 people have been treated in hospital, Albanian state media reported.
Emergency
workers told Albanian media that one of the dead was an elderly woman who had
managed to save her grandson by cradling him with her body.
A
man in Durres told local news channel News24 that his daughter and niece were
among those trapped inside a collapsed apartment building.
"I talked with my
daughter and niece on the phone. They said they are well and waiting for the
rescue. Could not talk to my wife. There are other families, but I could not
talk to them."
Two
of those killed in Durres were brothers from Kosovo working in the city,
Kosovo's minister of foreign affairs confirmed on social media. He said the
country would have a day of mourning in their honour.
Rescuers
in Durres were also seen trying to free a young boy trapped in the rubble.
Besar
Likmeta, a journalist based in Durres, told the BBC: "I can see right now
the firefighters using their bare hands and trying to cut through concrete and
iron slabs of the collapsed building.
"There
are Red Cross crews and police special intervention units and army. But there
is no clear count of how many people might still be missing."
Albania
was ill-equipped to deal with the situation, he said, and had appealed for
outside help.
The
European Commission said it had deployed rescue teams from
Italy, Greece and Romania to help with the search efforts.
"We
stand by Albania at this difficult time following the earthquakes. We have
mobilised immediate support to help local authorities," the commission
wrote on Twitter.
Rescue
teams were also sent from Kosovo and Montenegro.
There
have been a number of aftershocks, including one of 5.3 magnitude, the
European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre said.
Are earthquakes common in Albania?
The
Balkans is in an area prone to seismic activity.
Tuesday's
earthquake has been described by authorities as the strongest to hit Albania in
decades.
In
1979, a magnitude 6.9 quake hit Albania leaving 136 dead and more than 1,000
injured.





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