50 dead, more than 5,000 displaced in Albania quake

TIRANA: Albania’s prime minister said the country had been “wounded” by the violent earthquake this week that killed whole families and pulverised buildings, as he gave a new toll on Friday of 49 dead and 5,000 displaced.The 6.4 magnitude quake that jolted Albania before dawn on Tuesday was the most deadly and destructive in decades. Entire families were crushed by their homes while they were sleeping.“We have all been touched and wounded” by the tragedy, said Prime Minister Edi Rama, his voice strained as he mentioned the death of a close friend of his son, a medical student whose body was found in the rubble with her brother and two parents.The damage was most concentrated near the Adriatic coast in the port city of Durres and the town of Thumane, where scores of people were trapped beneath the wreckage of toppled apartments and hotels.

from The News International - World https://ift.tt/2qYc4JI