*update* Still over 100 missing.
WATCH THE HOUSES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SCREEN. AMAZING!! RIP to the victims.
160 reported injured/dead including many Americans.“Local journalist Altin Kodra told Sky News: “The area has been pulverised.”
First reports are that an old army depot went up. Watch this HUGE explsion reported from SkyNews:
One hundred and sixty people, many of them Americans, are feared dead or injured after a series of large explosions at an army base on the outskirts of Tirana, the capital of Albania, officials have said.
People suffering with burns, concussions and broken limbs were rushed to local hospitals following the blasts, believed to have begun while teams were dismantling munitions at a store base. Many of the injuries were a result of flying glass or shrapnel.
“We do not know the exact number, but we fear the worst for the three teams, each of 21 people, working there at the time,” said Juela Mecani, spokeswoman for the country’s prime minister, Sali Berisha. “Several were US citizens.”
A spokesman for the Albanian interior ministry, Avni Neza, said army and police forces were trying to reach the area in armoured cars. “Helicopters have not yet managed to land because the explosions continue,” he said.
A Reuters cameraman who quickly arrived at the scene described people trying to escape: “Terrified people are leaving the area on foot along the highway, women and children. Cars with broken windows have been abandoned on the highway.”
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