UN disaster team conducts assessment in wake of deadly Albanian explosions
23 March 2008 - A United Nations disaster and assessment coordination team (UNDAC) is carrying out a rapid evaluation this weekend of
the situation in Albania, where a series of explosions at a military ammunition depot a week ago have killed at least 21
people, injured 250 others and destroyed or damaged more than 4,000 homes.
The seven-member team, which arrived in Tirana, the capital, earlier this week, is conducting the assessment of the
affected area in collaboration with the Albanian Government, according to an update released on Friday by the UN Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Albanian authorities asked for the UNDAC team to help them identify priority needs and coordinate their response to the
deadly explosions, which occurred on 15 March during an ongoing programme to destroy old military ordnance at a depot in
the village of Gerdec.
Government figures indicate that 4,000 people have had to be evacuated from a wide area around Gerdec, which is located
about 15 kilometres west of Tirana. As of last Thursday, 408 homes were reported to have been destroyed and over 3,700
others were heavily or partially damaged.
The situation is complicated by the thousands of artillery shells, mortar shells, grenades and small arms ammunition
that now litter the area for up to five kilometres around the depot. As much as 90,000 tons of ageing ammunition in need
of destruction also exists at 26 sites throughout Albania.
ENDS