Cypriot civil engineers in Tirana to assist in post-earthquake inspections

A team of Cypriot civil engineers are in Tirana after the Cyprus Foreign Ministry consulted the Albanian government on how it could assist in post-earthquake building inspections following the 26 November quake.

A Foreign Ministry announcement said the Cypriot team consists of six civil engineers, the head representative of Civil Defence and an embassy official stationed in Athens.

After arriving in Tirana, the team was briefed by the EU’s emergency response mechanism and started inspections on Wednesday.

The Cyprus Association of Civil Engineers said its members responded immediately to a call by the Technical Chamber, the Foreign Ministry and Civil Defence to assist the Albanian authorities in carrying out building inspections.

The 6.4-magnitude earthquake killed 51 people and injured more than 3,000.

More than 11,000 buildings were damaged and an estimated 13,000 people made homeless. Many have found shelter in hotels, public buildings, tents, with relatives or in neighbouring Kosovo.