The Director of the Tirana Fire Department, Shkëlqim Goxhaj, in a statement to the media from the scene, stated that the fire has been isolated in one section and work is continuing to completely extinguish it.
Focusing on the first suspicions regarding the causes of the fire, there is still no confirmed information, but Goxhaj said that it may have come from the first floor of the building, where the businesses are located.
"I think we are nearing the end of the fire situation and so far we have no information or complaints from citizens that we have any injured citizens inside. You saw in the first moments we focused on evacuating citizens, where we focused two motor stairs, one in the western part and one in the northern part. We evacuated some citizens who were inside the building.
At the moment we have isolated the fire within one section, while the other sections are not at risk of being affected by the fire. We are close to ending the fire.
"From the volume of fire we see, I think the fire is on the first floor of the building, where there was a business, and after the situation is under control, the fire service's prevention inspectors, in cooperation with judicial police officers, will conduct the necessary expertise to precisely determine the source of the fire ," said Goxhaj.
The 12-story building near the "Mother Teresa" hospital was engulfed in flames this Tuesday afternoon.
The director of emergency services, Skënder Brataj, announced that a total of six people are in the hospital, four of whom are firefighters.
The latter and a citizen were transported to toxicology, while another resident suffered about 15% burns.
All are in stable health.