DefMin: Two military planes will transport to Albania teams participating in search and rescue missions

Minister of Defence, Nicolae-Ionel Ciuca, approved the conduct of a flight to Albania, with two C-27J Spartan and C-130 Hercules aircraft of the Romanian Air Force, that will transport RO-USAR search and rescue teams of the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (IGSU), with intervention equipment and technique, a press release sent, on Tuesday, by the Ministry of National Defence (MApN) informs. 

According to the quoted source, the team, to be composed of 52 specialists, with the necessary technical means, will execute search and rescue missions for persons trapped under rubble in the area affected by the 6.4 magnitude quake of Tuesday morning, will leave around 15:00 hrs towards Albania. 

"The mission will be executed at the request of the head of the Department for Emergency Situations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, following the request for international assistance formulated by the Albanian Government through the European Mechanism for Civil Protection," the MApN release mentions. 

At least thirteen persons died on Tuesday in Albania following an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 on the Richter scale, the most powerful occurring in this country in the past decades, AFP and Reuters inform. Several buildings collapsed, and nearly 150 were injured, some persons being still trapped under rubble.