At Least 22 Killed in Munitions Blast

Impoverished villagers stripping bronze casings from mortar shells stored in caverns sparked a huge explosion and fire that killed at least 22 people. The dead were from Selishte, a remote village 20 miles northeast of Tirana, the capital. No one knows exactly what set off the blast. A guard who reported being chased from his post by the looters said there was at least a foot of gunpowder from emptied mortar shells on the tunnel floor. “The explosion was an earthquake,” he said. The still-burning fire set off smaller explosions in two adjoining tunnels and blocked rescuers from entering to remove the bodies.