Albania’s prime minister is calling on the international community for financial aid and expert assistance to help the country recover from a 6.4 magnitude earthquake that killed 51 persons and left thousands homeless.
Prime Minister Edi Rama said Sunday the government was reshaping the budget, but that it would be “humanly impossible” to do everything without international partners’ support.
Tuesday’s quake that hit Albania’s Adriatic coast also injured more than 3,000 people and left thousands homeless. The worst hit areas were the port town of Durres, a popular beach vacation spot for Albanians 33 kilometers (20 miles) west of the capital Tirana, and the nearby northern town of Thumane.
Ilirijan Gaxholli shows the damage to his apartment building in the town of Durres, western Albania, Saturday, Nov 30, 2019. The search and rescue operation for earthquake survivors in Albania has ended, the prime minister said Saturday, with the death toll at 51 and no more bodies believed to be in the ruins. (AP PhotoVisar Kryeziu)
Civil engineers from European Union countries and the United States have started to assess the quake effects together with local ones.