While the death toll following the devastating earthquake that struck Albania last Tuesday continues to rise \u2013 49 dead and 750 injured \u2013 the Order of Malta\u2019s Albanian relief corps is on site to assist the hundreds of displaced persons (3,480 in all).<\/p>\n
\u201cOur teams were active from the early morning of 26th November,\u201d said the Order of Malta\u2019s Ambassador to Albania Stefano Palumbo, \u201cFifteen volunteers, doctors, nurses and first-aid operators organised the distribution of basic necessities and offered psychological assistance to the first 1200 displaced persons gathered in the Duress stadium\u201d. In the port city, the epicentre of the earthquake, over 700 houses have been damaged or completely destroyed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Order of Malta\u2019s volunteers distributed water, food and first-aid kits together with blankets and camp beds,\u201d added Ambassador Palumbo, also explaining that the Order is in constant contact with Caritas Albania and with representatives of the Catholic Church who had arrived on the site to provide first-aid.<\/p>\n
The Order of Malta\u2019s Italian Relief Corps (CISOM) has also been mobilised, sending a Quick Reaction Force (QRF) to assess the damage. The team met the Minister of Health and Social Affairs and the Director General of National Health Emergencies. The first task of the CISOM volunteers was to organize the transport of the sick from the stadium, where a temporary first-aid camp has been set up, to the Durres hospital, which unfortunately was evacuated yesterday following a strong aftershock. Today the CISOM team is in Thumane, a small town near Durres, and will then go on to the nearby camps of Lac and Fushe Kruje.<\/p>\n
The Order of Malta\u2019s ambassador to Albania is in contact with the Prime Minister\u2019s office, with the director of the Port Authority in Durres and with the apostolic nuncio. The Order of Malta\u2019s Grand Master, Fra\u2019 Giacomo Dalla Torre, yesterday sent a message of condolence to the President of the Republic Ilir Meta.<\/p>\n\n","news_gallery":"yes","news_gallery_elements":[{"id":314,"url":"https:\/\/albaniaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2022\/06\/PHOTO-2019-11-26-17-27-558.jpeg"},{"id":316,"url":"https:\/\/albaniaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2022\/06\/PHOTO-2019-11-29-12-58-31.jpeg"},{"id":318,"url":"https:\/\/albaniaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2022\/06\/PHOTO-2019-11-29-12-58-32-800x470-2.jpeg"},{"id":320,"url":"https:\/\/albaniaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2022\/06\/1c5ddc61-144b-42f8-bdc8-05da7d12eb4e.jpeg"},{"id":322,"url":"https:\/\/albaniaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2022\/06\/442ff966-bdf5-4846-aa5c-80cbc7c11835.jpeg"},{"id":324,"url":"https:\/\/albaniaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2022\/06\/987bc425-fdeb-4461-ade1-10d79c413cf3.jpeg"}],"news_excerpt":"While the death toll following the devastating earthquake that struck Albania last Tuesday continues to rise, the Order of Malta\u2019s Albanian relief corps is on site to assist the hundreds of displaced persons.","evidence":"yes"},"news_categories":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/albaniaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/notizie\/311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/albaniaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/notizie"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/albaniaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/albaniaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/notizie\/311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/albaniaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/albaniaembassy.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}