Albanian prosecutors have issued warrants for 40 people in connection with unsafe construction that contributed to damage in Tirana and surrounding municipalities in the November earthquake.

Klan TV said, quoting sources, that 25 of the total were detained in a large-scale raid, while police were searching for the remainder.

Among them are municipal officials, local leaders and engineers suspected of forging documents and issuing permits for unsafe buildings.

Tirana suffered damage but no deaths in the November 26 quake.

The damage was much greater near the epicentre, just off the densely populated Adriatic coast. There, mostly in Durres and Thumane, 51 people died in collapsed buildings.

In December, arrest warrants were issued for 17 people under various charges in connection with the deaths.

Source: dpa