DURRES, Albania — Stopping at intervals to listen for sounds of survivors, local and international rescue crews searched through the rubble of collapsed buildings Wednesday, as hopes of finding people alive waned a day after a deadly earthquake in Albania killed at least 28 and injured more than 650.
Those desperate for news included police officer Ajet Peci, who managed to emerge from the ruins of an apartment block that collapsed in the port city of Durres, killing his two adult daughters. His wife was still missing.
“How can I live?” Peci said, sobbing as he was consoled by neighbors, a bandage under his right eye and on a finger of his left hand. “I don’t know what I did to make it out. I wish I had stayed with them.”
Neighbors said only about four or five families were living in the five-story building at the time of the quake, as the owners of some of the apartments had emigrated.
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Overnight, authorities said four more people had been confirmed dead, and three more deaths were reported Wednesday afternoon. Those killed included at least three children, Defense Minister Olta Xhacka said.
Hundreds of aftershocks, some of them strong, followed the magnitude-6.4 quake that struck the country’s coastal cities before dawn on Tuesday. Crews briefly suspended rescue operations after an aftershock with a preliminary magnitude of 5.3 struck Wednesday afternoon.
In Durres, Albania’s second-largest city on the Adriatic Sea, residents slept in tents and cars and at a soccer stadium. Others spent the night on open ground, huddling around fires to stay warm. The Defense Ministry said about 2,100 people were in tents, although many were being moved to hotels, which had offered 1,500 beds so far.
The government vowed that all those who had lost homes would have new ones by the end of 2020.
Flags were flying at half-staff on public buildings around the country Wednesday as Albania observed a national day of mourning.
Prime Minister Edi Rama thanked neighbor Greece and other countries offering support.
“We feel good to not be alone, and I’m very grateful to all our friends,” Rama said late Tuesday, visiting Durres with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias.
