Troops and police cordoned off a smouldering army depot north of the Albanian capital Tirana as crews searched today for workers missing following a chain of explosions that killed at least nine people and injured hundreds.
Nine bodies have been found, but 10 workers remained missing, authorities said. More than 240 people were injured, including children, and at least 130 remained in hospital.
Prime Minister Sali Berisha said the explosions in Gerdec, a village about 6 miles north of Tirana, were an accident: blasts triggered during work to destroy excess ammunition stockpiled during Albania's Communist past.
The chain of explosions started yesterday and continued until early today, severely hampering rescue efforts. Footage showed a ball of fire shooting up from the site, with shrapnel and shell fragments raining down on homes and cars.
Emergency officials said initial estimates showed 313 buildings were completely wrecked in the depot and the neighbouring village, while another 1,600 buildings were damaged.
Gerdec was declared an emergency zone, and Mr Berisha promised relief for villagers who lost their homes. "As soon as the damage is fully assessed, the government will commit all its resources to quickly react and rebuild the totally destroyed zone," he said.
The blast left a massive crater at the depot. The first blast was heard as far away as Skopje, the Macedonian capital, some 120 miles away, and prompted a brief suspension of flights at Tirana's nearby international airport.
The explosion also damaged a major electricity transmission point, leaving the area without power. About 80 people had been working on destroying ammunition at the time, Albin Mecaj, 22, who works at the depot, said.
Witnesses said most were able to flee after the first blast. Authorities evacuated 4,000 people from three villages and the surrounding area, with houses more than a mile away damaged by the blast.
The blasts continued for some 14 hours, until 2am. Today, troops and police cordoned off the still-smouldering depot as army engineers prepared to go into the heart of the blasts. A company had been subcontracted to destroy excess ammunition, Mr Berisha said.
AP