Rescuers search quake rubble
Rescue crews with excavators are still searching for survivors trapped in toppled apartment buildings and hotels as the death toll from a powerful earthquake in Albania climbs to 21, with more than 600 people injured.
The magnitude-6.4 quake was felt across the southern Balkans on Tuesday and was followed by multiple aftershocks, with several above magnitude 5.
In nearby Bosnia, another quake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.4 struck southeast of the capital Sarajevo, causing minor damage.
In Albania, the quake knocked down apartment buildings and hotels while people slept. There is no indication as to how many might still be buried in the rubble. Neighbouring countries and European Union nations have sent search and rescue crews to help.
The government has declared an official day of mourning.
Local TV stations showed footage of a young boy being rescued from a collapsed building in the coastal town of Durres, 35 kilometres west of the capital Tirana and one of the worst-hit areas. Hours later, live footage showed people cheering as another child was found alive in a collapsed building in Durres where a body had been located earlier. Health minister Ogerta Manastirliu said more than 600 people had been treated for injuries, including nine with lifethreatening injuries.
In the northern town of Thumane, one woman cried and begged Prime Minister Edi Rama to help find her missing daughterin-law. Rama embraced the woman and tried to console her.
Defence 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’’.