Albania quake death toll rises to 16, more than 600 injured
TIRANA, Albania — Albania’s Defense Ministry has reported two more dead in the western port city of Durres following an early morning 6.4-magnitude earthquake, taking the confirmed death toll to 16.
The ministry said only that the bodies were found, apparently in one of the collapsed buildings in the western city 20 miles from the capital Tirana.
Health Minister Ogerta Manastirliu said medical teams had taken care of more than 600 injured people, with nine of them in life-threatening condition.
Rescue teams from neighboring Kosovo and Montenegro, as well as from Italy, have already arrived, while a convoy of trucks has entered the country from Greece.
They are slowly working trying to find survivors in the rubble of the collapsed buildings.
An aftershock of magnitude 5 in the Adriatic Sea rattled the nerves of already-scared people.
Tents erected in 2 towns
About 400 soldiers are putting up tents in two towns to shelter people with damaged houses.
Live TV footage showed people cheering when a child was found alive in a collapsed building in the town of Durres where a body had been found earlier.
Search-and-rescue crews and firefighters are coming from many countries in the region and Europe.
Prime Minister Edi Rama said German Chancellor Angela Merkel, his counterparts from North Macedonia and Bulgaria have offered to help.
Neighboring Montenegro is sending a search-and-rescue team. Two military aircraft with specialized emergency teams have been sent from Romania.
Foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Christos Stylianides say the EU “is ready to offer assistance.”
They say that EU emergency services are “in continuous contact with Albania’s civil protection authorities.”
The two say they “remain in touch with Albania’s government to identify best ways we can help at this difficult moment.”
Bosnia quake
Seismologists say a strong earthquake has rattled southern Bosnia, several hours after a deadly quake struck in nearby Albania.
The GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences, which monitors global earthquake activity, said the shallow earthquake of magnitude-5.4 occurred at 0919 GMT southeast of the capital, Sarajevo.
Turkey’s ambassador to Albania says a group of some 20 Turkish nationals were rescued from a hotel that was damaged in an earthquake that hit the country.
Ahmet Yoruk told CNN-Turk on Tuesday that Turks were staying in a hotel in the city of Durres, one the most affected areas from the magnitude-6.4 quake.
They were rescued with slight injuries and are being evacuated to Tirana, Yoruk said.
The ambassador also said Turkey is sending a team of rescuers and medics to assist Albania with the rescue efforts.
Albania’s prime minister says neighboring countries, the European Union and the United States have all offered immediate support following the strong earthquake.
Edi Rama said Tuesday he had phone calls from his Italian, Greek and Turkish counterparts and also the EU and U.S. embassies in Tirana.
The quake collapsed at least three apartment buildings while people slept, and rescue crews were working to free people believed trapped in the rubble. There was no indication as to how many people might still be buried.
‘Preserve calmness’
Prime Minister Edi Rama said Tuesday that all government agencies are “intensively working to save lives at the fatal spots in Durres and Thumane.”
“It is a dramatic moment where we should preserve calmness, stay alongside each other to cope with this shock,” Rama wrote on his Facebook page.
President Ilir Meta called on the Cabinet to ask for international assistance and called for solidarity with the affected population.
The Interior Ministry asked people to avoid driving in the affected areas to allow emergency services to operate freely.
