Albania quake deadly; rescuers rush in

A family displaced by Tuesday’s earthquake takes shelter at a makeshift camp at a soccer field in Durres, Albania. More photos at arkansasonline.com/1127quake/
A family displaced by Tuesday’s earthquake takes shelter at a makeshift camp at a soccer field in Durres, Albania. More photos at arkansasonline.com/1127quake/

DURRES, Albania -- Rescue crews with excavators searched for survivors trapped in toppled apartment buildings and hotels Tuesday as the death toll from a powerful pre-dawn earthquake in Albania climbed to 21, with more than 600 people injured.

The magnitude-6.4 quake was felt across the southern Balkans and was followed by numerous aftershocks, with several above magnitude 5. In nearby Bosnia, another temblor with a preliminary magnitude of 5.4 struck southeast of the capital, Sarajevo, causing only minor damage.

The quake in Albania knocked down apartment buildings and hotels while people slept, and rescue crews worked into the evening to free more people believed trapped. There was no indication as to how many might still be buried in the rubble, as neighboring countries and European Union nations sent search-and-rescue crews to help.

The government declared an official day of mourning for today, with Albanian flags on official buildings to fly at half-staff. Schools would remain closed until Monday, as Thursday and Friday were national holidays. The country's soccer federation announced all matches would be canceled for the rest of the week.

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Television stations showed footage in the early hours after the quake of a boy being rescued from a collapsed building in the coastal town of Durres, 20 miles west of the capital, Tirana, and one of the worst-hit areas. An excavator moved a broken slab of concrete and the boy cried and shouted in pain as men pulled mangled reinforcement bars out of the way trying to free his leg.

Hours later, live TV footage showed people cheering as another child was found alive in a collapsed building in Durres where a body had been found earlier. In total, 43 people had been rescued from buildings by Tuesday evening.

Health Minister Ogerta Manastirliu said more than 600 people had been treated, including nine hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.

"It is a dramatic moment where we should preserve calm, [and] stay alongside each other to cope with this shock," Prime Minister Edi Rama said. He later visited Durres, where 12 people died, and the northern town of Thumane where another seven people were killed in a collapsed apartment building. One person died after jumping from his home to escape in Kurbin, 30 miles north of Tirana, while another was killed on a road that collapsed in the northern town of Lezha.

At least three hotels, a residential villa and an apartment building collapsed in Durres, and one apartment building in Thumane.

In Durres, the Albanian prime minister was accompanied by Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, who had been visiting neighboring North Macedonia earlier in the day.

"We have been through this, we know this, we will do whatever we can to help," said Dendias, whose country is also in a seismically active region and was among more than a dozen countries sending search-and-rescue teams to Albania. "We stand with the Albanian people, with its government, to offer whatever we can."

Defense Minister Olta Xhacka said the search-and-rescue efforts were "extremely difficult operations, where you have to work slowly because there is a high risk of further collapse, endangering not only residents, but also those trapped, and the rescuers themselves."

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About 400 soldiers set up some 200 tents in Durres and in Fushe Kruje near Thumane in the north to house survivors left homeless by the quake.

As night fell, hundreds of people were taking shelter in the tents, while others were traveling to relatives living in other parts of Albania that had not been affected.

The quake also was felt in neighboring Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Greece, and parts of southern Serbia.

Information for this article was contributed by Elena Becatoros and Derek Gatopoulos of The Associated Press.

photo

AP/VISAR KRYEZIU

Rescuers search a damaged building Tuesday in the Albanian town of Thumane after a powerful earthquake struck the area before dawn, killing at least 21 people and injuring more than 600. Crews worked into the night to find others who might be trapped in the rubble of collapsed apartments and hotels. More photos at arkansasonline.com/1127quake/

A Section on 11/27/2019

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