Mar 16, 2008, 16:26 GMT
Tirana - Albanian authorities confirmed eight casualties from a military munitions depot explosion by Sunday afternoon, amid fears the toll could be much higher as rescuers sifted through the rubble of the massive blast.
An unexploded shell is seen near a destroyed house in the village of Gerdec, Albania, 16 March 2008 following the munitions explosions yesterday. In the background a farmer milks one of his cows. The Albanian army base, stocking obsolete munitions for destruction, blew up in a chain of massive blasts on Saturday killing at least eight and injuring more than 240. The authorities fear many more may have been killed in the series of explosions EPA/VALDRIN XHEMAJ
'Officially, there are still 10 persons who were working at the site who are unaccounted for ... along with 70 others whom we are looking for,' Prime Minister Sali Berisha told a press conference.
More than 200 people had been treated and 57 remained hospitalized, ten of whom were airlifted to hospitals in Greece and Italy, Berisha said. Eight were in critical condition.
Berisha said that 1,500 police and military personnel were included in the search and rescue effort, amid fears that 'many' were possibly trapped in collapsed buildings.
The devastation in Gerdec, 14 kilometres from Tirana, reflected the power of the blast, which was heard 200 kilometres away and registered by Mediterranean seismographs.
Berisha said 2,000 homes within a four-kilometre radius had been damaged by the explosion, 318 of them were destroyed, 185 heavily damaged and more than 200 partly destroyed.
Meanwhile the clearing up of ordnance, strewn within a five- kilometre radius, began with the aid of US military personnel, Berisha said. Danish and Norwegian de-mining teams were also expected in Albania shortly.
The Gerdec compound comprised four depots, only one of which exploded. There was concern that explosions of the strewn ordnance may start a chain reaction elsewhere, so police enforced a tightly secured perimeter around the base.
Some 4,000 people from the area have been evacuated as smaller detonations continued a full day after the initial blast, preventing the rescuers from penetrating the compound tunnels where people may still be trapped.
At the time of the blast 121 people had been working at the depot, according to Interior Minister Bujar Nishani. 'We are afraid that the number of casualties may increase during the day.'
Chinese and Soviet-made ordnance, including heavy artillery shells, had been stored there since World War 2 and slated for dismantling.
The clear-up of thousands of tons of Communist-era munitions stockpiled by Albania over the decades is part of the programme Albania needs to implement on its way to NATO membership.
A US company had been commissioned by NATO for the job. It reportedly sub-contracted an Albanian firm in a project to which the US donated 40 million dollars.
Berisha said an investigation had been launched, but pointed the finger at contractors, saying that the army was in charge only of transporting the munitions.
Your Talkback on this Story