New Kosova Report

Blasts wound more than 150 at Albania army base

Saturday, 15 March 2008

Emergency services are seen near the site.

GERDEC, Albania - An explosion at an Albanian army depot near Tirana on Saturday injured more than 150 people, including many children, and damaged the city's nearby international airport, authorities said.

Police said the cause of the explosion was not immediately clear, but that it was not believed to have been caused by a bomb.

The blast set off ammunition stored at the army depot, and explosions continued for at least two hours. Authorities suspended flights for at least 30 minutes at Mother Teresa Tirana International Airport.

Health Minister Nard Ndoka said at least 155 people, including many children, had suffered injuries. Police spokesman Klodian Branko said no fatalities had been confirmed.

The depot, which is used as a location to destroy excess ammunition, is at Gerdec village, about six miles north of the capital, Tirana. The blast was heard more than 30 miles away, and people fled from nearby villages.

Prime Minister Sali Berisha said the situation was and that the area near the depot was being evacuated, his spokeswoman Juela Mecani told The Associated Press.

President Bamir Topi, speaking on Albanian television, called for calm, to avoid panic and chaos.

Albin Mecaj, 22, who works at the depot, told the AP by telephone that about 80 people had been working on destroying ammunition at the time of the explosion. Mecaj, who was badly burned in the blast, said that usually about 120 people are working there.

Houses more than a mile away were damaged by the blast, an AP photographer at the scene said.

The nearby area lost its power supply after the explosion, and police shut down the highway between Tirana and the seaside town of Durres, 20 miles west of Tirana.

© AP