Rescuers keep working in Albanian town as death toll hits 40

Rescue teams desperately sought survivors under rubble in Albania’s western town of Durres on Thursday hoping to pull out toddler twins alive, two days after a 6.4 magnitude quake killed at least 40 people.

Italy, Greece, Romania and others rushed teams in and they are searching for survivors as 530 aftershocks, some with a magnitude over 5, kept rocking buildings and scaring people.

In the northern town of Thumane, where 22 people died, searches were halted after all victims were pulled out, including the bodies of a mother and daughter found embracing each other under the rubble of a five-storey building.

The quake on Tuesday, centred 30 km (19 miles) west of the capital Tirana, was felt across the Balkans and in the southern Italian region of Puglia across the Adriatic Sea.

Some 45 people were pulled alive from under the rubble. A handful of the 650 injured are in a serious condition.

Via Reuters