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What caused the fire in the 12-story building in Lushnja, all residents are evacuated

Politiko 2023-12-25 19:31:52

What caused the fire in the 12-story building in Lushnja, all residents are

The 12-story building where the "Metropol" shopping center is located was engulfed in fire, which is still active. There are shops on the first three floors of the building and apartments on the other floors.

The cause of the fire is suspected to have been an electrical spark from the air conditioner in a shoe store on the third floor of the mall, and then the fire spread throughout the center, while smoke engulfed the entire 12-story building.

A bar which was located on the third floor of this 12-story building was all made of wood, which is suspected to have spread the fire even more and faster throughout the center.

Up to these moments, about 35 people have ended up in the hospital with breathing problems, where there are also children and firefighters among the asphyxiated.

"We have just visited all the citizens who went to the hospital in Lushnje. They are all out of danger thanks to the work of the medical team. Everything is under control, the situation appears calm, the citizens have received the necessary medication and at the moment they have no worries. Before I came to the hospital, I was also near the shopping center. The situation is under control. All residents have been evacuated and RENEA forces are checking floor by floor. From the information I have, everyone is evacuated and the police and firefighters are there to bring the situation under control," said the Minister of Health, Albana Koçiu.

The head of the National Emergency, Skënder Brataj, has informed that the asphyxiated children are aged two out of 14 years old and one three years old.

 "3 buildings were combed, to see if there are still residents. Emergency services are here. I do not believe that there will be consequences for the patients in the hospital. Two children were 14 years old, one was 7 years old. No hard codes. The 3 buildings have been checked, every door is being opened to see if there are other trapped people. But so far no person has been trapped either in the shopping center or in the surrounding buildings." he said.

All people have been evacuated from the shopping center, while RENEA Forces have gone to every apartment to see if there could be people trapped. Some of the residents tried to get out of the windows or balconies. A crane was also sent to help the firefighters, which made it possible to evacuate the citizens from the apartment, since the fire department did not have a ladder.

Speaking about the situation, the Minister of the Interior, Taulant Balla, said that the danger has not yet passed as there are still small fires in the building. He added that the problem remains the temperature of the building where work is being done due to the fire that engulfed the third floor.

"Thanks to the intervention and good coordination between the fire brigade, Shqiponja and RENEA, which, due to their professionalism, managed to intervene in time in the apartments for which we were informed that there are no residents, but after entering by force, the boys of RENEA found people in these housing. They are now out of danger and are being treated at Lushnja hospital. The danger is not over because as we speak there are still several smaller outbreaks of the building. The problem remains that the temperature of the building where work is being done is very high due to the fire that was on the third floor" - said Balla, among other things.

Firefighters from Fieri and Tirana, as well as members of the RENA police force, went to the aid of the Lushnja firefighting forces. It has been confirmed that all residents have been evacuated from the building.

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