GERDEC, March 20 – A blast last Saturday at midday at the depot at Gerdec village, some 20 kilometers north of the capital, Tirana, set off a series of explosions, and ammunition continued to detonate for several hours, killing at least 19 perons and injuring more than 300.
Rescue experts continue to comb the rubble searching for at least three missing workers and villagers. It is beleived many more have been covered by the detonated land or been burnt. Albanian authorities questioned on Thursday resigned Defense Minister Fatmir Mediu about the series of weekend explosions at an ammunition depot near Tirana which killed at least 19 people and injured more than 300.
Mediu resigned on Monday over the explosions, which authorities say were accidentally triggered Saturday during work to dispose of decades-old ammunition stockpiled during Communist rule.
Prosecutor general office reported that Mediu was questioned “in the quality as a witness aware of the issue” adding they had also collected more documents linked to the case.
Three people _ a Defense Ministry official, the owner and the manager of the Albanian company tasked with destroying the ammunition _ were arrested late Monday for alleged negligence in observing safety regulations.
The blasts have scattered artillery shells over an area of up to 40 square kilometers (15 square miles), destroying more than 300 houses and damaging 2,000 more homes and businesses.
Some 4,000 people from three villages and other areas surrounding the blast were evacuated.
The country’s opposition has asked for Prime Minister Sali Berisha’s resignation and has called for a silent march Friday evening to protest against government’s alleged corruption in the process of dismantling remained ammunition in the country.
Tirana International Airport briefly suspended flights after being slightly damaged.
Albanian television stations showed a massive ball of fire shooting up from the site, while shrapnel and shell fragments rained down on homes and vehicles. A big crater beyond the plant area was created from the explosion.
Police said the cause of the explosion was not immediately clear, but terrorism was not suspected. There were offered different versions and Prosecutor General Ina Rama said later `a criminal activity` was not excluded. 15 injured were taken to Italy and six in Greece for further treatment.
Many European countries brought medical personnel and equipment in response to an Albanian request. The United States have also offered demining experts and medical ones to check the DNA of missing persons.
In neighboring Kosova, where most of the population is ethnic Albanian, hundreds of people lined up at a Prishtina hospital to give blood, and NATO-led peacekeepers were sending blood reserves by helicopters, officials said.
In Skopje, Macedonians donated blood; Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki was heading to Tirana to offer assistance, and donating blood himself.
Authorities said that 110 people had been working at the dump at the time of the explosion. There had been a delay of about 10 minutes between the initial blast and the explosions that followed, and that many of the workers had managed to run away.
The army depot is used as a location to destroy excess ammunition.
About 100,000 tons of excess ammunition, comprised largely of Russian and Chinese artillery shells made in the 1960s or earlier, are stored in former army depots across Albania. NATO members, particularly the U.S., Canada and Norway, have been helping the small Balkan country dispose of excess ammunition and obsolete weaponry.
Albania hopes to receive an invitation to join the NATO alliance during a summit starting April 2 in Bucharest.
“The problem of ammunition in Albania is one of the gravest, and a continuous threat,” Berisha said. “There is a colossal, a crazy amount of them since 1945 until now.”
He said he did not exclude human error in Saturday’s blast, but added that the ammunition could have exploded spontaneously because of its age.
Explosions stopped after some 14 hours.
Private television stations broadcast how children or teenagers worked at the depot. Factor documents showed that only the owner and the main manager were insured. The list of insured persons hardly passed a score in different months since May last year. Many former workers of the distmantling factory said they were not trained at all.
Berisha said that on paper there resulted no child working there, but he did not deny that black labor could be the case, adding not inured employees could also be at the case.
Mediu resigns
Albanian Defense Minister Fatmir Mediu resigned Monday, saying he was very sorry for the ‘innocent persons’ loss.”
“Based on what has happened and bearing my personal responsibilities I declare that I handed over to the Prime Minister my resignation,” said Mediu at a news conference broadcast with audio by all TV stations.
Mediu thanked the premier, government, the opposition and all itnernational partners for the support during his time.
“I will try to reflect first as a citizen and then as a poltiician,” he said referring to the explosion tragedy.
Mediu said that he would very open to the investigation on finding the causes of the accident.
Mediu denied he had any legal responsibility being in the post of the defense minister.
Mediu, 41, is the leader of the Republican Party, which is part of Prime Minister Sali Berisha’s governing conservative coalition.
Searching brings more dead victims from the blast
Rescuers found the bodies of two dead persons on Thursday near the site of a series of massive explosions at an ammunition dump near Tirana, as the number of dead from the weekend disaster increased to 19.
Three people officially remained missing and nearly 300 people were injured in the explosions, which began Saturday and continued for 14 hours into Sunday morning.
Albania’s chief prosecutor, Ina Rama, launched an investigation into the unknown cause of the blasts. But Edi Rama, leader of Albania’s opposition Socialist Party, said Prime Minister Sali Berisha’s government had mishandled the crisis and should resign.
“I ask the prime minister and the defense minister to stop making excuses, help families bury their dead and offer them financial assistance,” Rama told reporters. “In the next few days, they (should) send their resignation at the president.”
Ilir Meta of the Socialsit Movement for Integration, also demanded that Berisha step down and said they would ask to create a parliamentary investigative commission to open an inqury on the case.
Rescuers _ assisted by U.S. military explosives experts _ continued searching at the site of the explosions in the village of Gerdec. Rescuers were hampered by the large quantities of unexploded artillery shells. Hundreds of them were found during the days.
Rama said the investigation into the blasts was questioning the owner of the Albanian company subcontracted to destroy ammunition at the dump. She said the defense minister himself could be called in for questioning if the investigators deemed it necessary.
She said there were several lines of investigation, including the possibility of “criminal activity,” although that was not the focus of the probe.
Rama said she also was reviewing documentation from the U.S. company that had the initial contract to destroy the ammunition. Examining the site of the blast was crucial to the investigation, Rama said, but added that this was not possible at the moment because of the dangr of unexploded ordnance. Authorities say most of the ammunition at Gerdec was Russian and Chinese artillery shells made in the 1960s, when Albania was under Communist rule. Berisha said he could not rule out human error but said the ammunition could have exploded spontaneously because of its age.
Opposition accuses Berisha of corruption
TIRANA, March 20 – Albania’s opposition accused Prime Minister Sali Berisha, on Wednesday, of being involved in an illegal weapons smuggling. The accusation follows a chain of massive explosions at an ammunition depot near Tirana over the weekend that killed at least 19 people and injured more than 300.
In a strong accusation, the main opposition Socialist Party accused Berisha of illegal trade on the ammunition stored in the village of Gerdec, where they were being dismantled by an Albanian company.
“We have all the documentation to prove that Berisha and his chain of dependents have been involved in illegal arms trafficking with the ammunition sent to Gerdec,” lawmaker Erjon Brace said.
“Gerdec has been chosen because it is near the (Tirana International) airport where there is another army depot used for weapons trafficking,” said Brace.
Socialist leader Edi Rama accused Berisha of hiding the number of dead and asked for his resignation.
At a cabinet meeting the same day (Wednesday) Berisha attacked some journalists, whom he did not identify other than belonging to private television stations, as “Mafia merceneries”. shouting “Long live death, Down with the government.” He later explained that he had nothing to do with the distmantling process of the ammunition at Gerdec, adding that all the weapon trade the coutnry had made was legal and they had all the documentation to prove that.
The blasts began Saturday, just after noon, and continued for 14 hours, raining artillery shells down on villages and blowing out windows at the international airport.
Opposition calls for silent march
The Albanian opposition Socialist Party on Wednesday announced it will hold a silent march in front of the government building to protest the mishandling of explosives, and of being responsible for explosions at Gerdec which killed at least 19 people and injured more than 300.
Socialist leader Edi Rama harshly accused the government, and Prime Minister Sali Berisha, for being the cause of the accident that claimed many lives.
He also asked for Berisha’s resignation as well as the lifting of immunity for the premier and the former Defense Minister, Fatmir Mediu, who resigned Monday. Rama said that the lifting of immunity should be done formally in parliament since statements from both persons were not to be trusted.
Both are also lawmakers, a fact which obliges the prosecutor office to ask the parliament to lift their immunity before they are questioned or charged with any crime.
Rama called on all Albanians to go to Friday evening’s silent march, saying he would also take part as a common citizen, not a party leader. He also asked that the protest not be exploited politically and no political flags should be displayed there.
Debate on presence of U.S. company
A debate has begun over whether the ammunition which exploded at Gerdec was dismantled by a U.S. or an Albanian company. Prime Minister Sali Berisha has said the explosions were an accident that occurred during work to destroy excess ammunition stockpiled during Albania’s Communist past.
He said an Albanian company had been subcontracted to work at the site by a U.S. company, the South Carolina-based Southern Ammunition Co. Inc., or SACI.
Following the explosion, the U.S. company issued a brief statement saying it had been contracted in April, 2007 “to demilitarize small caliber ammunition. This contract included providing equipment, technology and personnel.”
It said the project ended without incident in December at the site of Saturday’s explosion. “Southern Ammunition had no involvement in the large caliber demilitarization operation that was being performed. Southern Ammunition regrets the tragic events that has occurred, but had no participation in them,” it said.
Berisha has insisted the Defense Ministry had signed a new contract with the company. He said the company had offered to renew the contract and its top manager had personally come in Tirana to sign the contract. Meanwhile, in a statement the U.S. Embassy said the U.S. government was not involved at all with the project, nor had it funded it.
“The U.S. Embassy has noted with shock and concern the reports of the tragic accident in the military depot near G쳤ec,” it said in a statement, adding thoughts and sympathies of the American people to the soldiers and others affected in this terrible accident. The embassy said its staff would be in contact with Albanian Government officials to determine what assistance we be provided.
“We note that some news agencies have mistakenly reported that a U.S. Government-sponsored munitions disposal project was underway at the depot that suffered several explosions on March 15. We would like to clarify that the U.S. Government has not assisted the Ministry of Defense with munitions disposal at that particular storage facility. Although the U.S. Government has partnered successfully with the Albanian Government on several munitions disposal projects previously, there are currently no such joint projects underway in Albania. We understand from a March 15 government statement that the GOA had contracted with a private American company, Southern Ammunition Company, Inc. (SACI) of South Carolina, to assist with munitions disassembly at the depot. The contract is not sponsored by the U.S. Government.”
U.S. denies aware of company working in Albania
Following the explosions last weekend, the U.S. embassy has not only offered practical assistance to search the deceased in the blast or recognize their identity, but it has also offered its full support to investigate the issue.
In the aftermath of the G쳤ec explosions, the U.S. Embassy learned of the existence of the American company, Southern Ammunition Company, Inc. (SAC) of South Carolina, according to an embassy statement.
It is our understanding that the Prosecutor General’s Office as part of its investigation will look into SAC’s possible role in the tragedy. The U.S. Embassy will do everything in its power to assist the Prosecutor General’s investigation.
Worldwide assistance after tragic explosion
A considerable amount of assistance and support poured into Albania following the explosions at the military ammunition depot in Gerdec last Saturday.
Neighboring Italy and Greece sent enormous material assistance and removed 21 injured Albanians for specialized treatment in their hospitals.
Significant assistance also came from the U.S., not only with medical aid but also with specialized explosives experts to assist the Albanian army.
France, Germany, Turkey, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Austria and other countries from throughout the world, including international institutions and non-governmental organizations, offered immediate help.
NATO has asked its member countries to supply specialized personnel and vehicles to clean the Gerdec area.
