Albania's Defense Ministry says the number of dead from a series of massive explosions over the weekend at an ammunition dump has increased by two to 11.
Spokeswoman Igli Hasani says a young woman died in the hospital yesterday, and rescuers found the body of a child near the site of the explosions, in the village of Gerdec, about 10km outside the capital.
Nearly 300 people were injured by the blasts, which began on Saturday and continued for 14 hours. More than 50 people remained hospitalized and 16 of the most seriously injured have been taken to Italy and Greece for treatment.
Hasani also says the number of missing has increased to 12.
Crews were also trying to clear an area of about 10km2 littered with unexploded shells. The blast destroyed more than 300 houses and damaged another 2,000 homes and businesses.
On Sunday, Defense Ministry spokesman Igli Hasani said the operation would to on "for as long as needed," but rescuers -- assisted by US military explosives experts -- were hampered by large quantities of unexploded artillery shells.
Saturday's explosions scattered shells over an area of 1,000 hectares, Hasani said.
Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha said the explosions were an accident that occurred during work to destroy excess ammunition stockpiled during the Communist era.
Berisha said he could not rule out human error but said the ammunition could have exploded spontaneously because of its age.
Authorities say most of the ammunition at Gerdec was Russian and Chinese artillery shells made in the 1960s.
TV footage from the blast showed a ball of fire shooting up from the site, with shrapnel and shell fragments raining down on homes and cars.
Gerdec has been declared an emergency zone, and Berisha has promised relief for villagers who lost their homes.
The blast left a massive crater at the depot.
Authorities evacuated 4,000 people from three villages and the surrounding area, and were preventing people from returning home yesterday because of the danger of unexploded ammunition.
VAGUE: The criteria of the amnesty remain unclear, but it would cover political violence from 1999 to today, and those convicted of murder or drug trafficking would not qualify Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodriguez on Friday announced an amnesty bill that could lead to the release of hundreds of prisoners, including opposition leaders, journalists and human rights activists detained for political reasons. The measure had long been sought by the US-backed opposition. It is the latest concession Rodriguez has made since taking the reins of the country on Jan. 3 after the brazen seizure of then-Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. Rodriguez told a gathering of justices, magistrates, ministers, military brass and other government leaders that the ruling party-controlled Venezuelan National Assembly would take up the bill with urgency. Rodriguez also announced the shutdown
Civil society leaders and members of a left-wing coalition yesterday filed impeachment complaints against Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte, restarting a process sidelined by the Supreme Court last year. Both cases accuse Duterte of misusing public funds during her term as education secretary, while one revives allegations that she threatened to assassinate former ally Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The filings come on the same day that a committee in the House of Representatives was to begin hearings into impeachment complaints against Marcos, accused of corruption tied to a spiraling scandal over bogus flood control projects. Under the constitution, an impeachment by the
Exiled Tibetans began a unique global election yesterday for a government representing a homeland many have never seen, as part of a democratic exercise voters say carries great weight. From red-robed Buddhist monks in the snowy Himalayas, to political exiles in megacities across South Asia, to refugees in Australia, Europe and North America, voting takes place in 27 countries — but not China. “Elections ... show that the struggle for Tibet’s freedom and independence continues from generation to generation,” said candidate Gyaltsen Chokye, 33, who is based in the Indian hill-town of Dharamsala, headquarters of the government-in-exile, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA). It
A Virginia man having an affair with the family’s Brazilian au pair on Monday was found guilty of murdering his wife and another man that prosecutors say was lured to the house as a fall guy. Brendan Banfield, a former Internal Revenue Service law enforcement officer, told police he came across Joseph Ryan attacking his wife, Christine Banfield, with a knife on the morning of Feb. 24, 2023. He shot Ryan and then Juliana Magalhaes, the au pair, shot him, too, but officials argued in court that the story was too good to be true, telling jurors that Brendan Banfield set
RSS