TIRANA, Jan. 12 – The deep freeze hitting Albania this month has killed at least three people, authorities say.
Police found two homeless men had died due to exposure to low temperatures in Durres and Saranda. Meanwhile in Gjirokastra another victim of the bad weather died when he fell during in an attempt to unfreeze a family water tank.
Bad weather continues to endanger many lives in Albania, especially those of the homeless. In Saranda, two indigents were saved thanks to the intervention of an educational institution, which housed them in a boarding school at night.
In some major cities other dozens of homeless have been taken by authorities and police to special warming centers.
Albania’s ombudsman, Igli Totozani, urged municipalities to establish more places to house people in need during the record-setting deep freeze.
Quality of life has suffered too as in many cities, municipalities are unable to provide clean streets and frost and ice have paralyzed water networks, disrupting water supply to residents.
Problems in urban centers come as construction quality issues affect the ability of the infrastructure to deal with subzero temperatures.
