Immediately after landing on the territory of Albania, the RO-USAR team settled in a naval base in Durres city.
Later on, starting with 00:00 hours, the rescue firefighters arrived in the northern part of Durres city where they began the search – rescue operations at a collapsed GF + 6 + M building, indicating that there may be survivors under the ruins.
The Romanian specialists work in the area of Durres city together with teams from Greece, Croatia and Turkey.
This morning, a team leaders’ meeting with local authorities was scheduled in order to coordinate survivors’ rescue efforts.
We remind you that, following the activation of the European civil protection mechanism, the Romanian Government, at the request of President Klaus Iohannis, for the urgent involvement of our country in providing support and assistance to Albania, sent the RO-USAR rescue-search team of the special unit of GIES from MIA to support the Albanian authorities.
Two C 130 Hercules model aircrafts made available by the Ministry of National Defense transported the RO-USAR team to Albania and also the 12 tons of equipment needed for the intervention.
The team consists of 52 firefighters, accredited by the UN for international missions, four dogs trained to save human lives and two volunteers specialized in canine training.
The Minister of Internal Affairs, Ion Marcel VELA, is in constant contact with Colonel Vasile PIRTEA, the leader of rescuers’ team, an exceptional professional person, in order to be informed about any need or request of our specialists and to have them resolved quickly.
