Dozens of residents of the 12-story building in Lushnje were trapped for several hours inside their apartments, after the second and third floors that served as a shopping center were engulfed in flames.
The fire and smoke blocked the corridors, while the power cut made even the elevator not work, isolating dozens of citizens inside the apartments.
The difficulty in evacuating them was due to the lack of an escalator, causing some citizens to try to go down through the external bars of the building.
It took the arrival of dozens of fire engines from Fieri, Berat and Tirana, to make it possible for residents to descend from the upper floors.
So far, 39 people have been hospitalized with breathing problems due to the smoke, but fortunately without serious complications.