TIRANA - Antigovernment protesters clashed with police in the southern Albanian port of Vlore yesterday, leaving one person dead and 36 injured. A doctor at the city hospital said a man in his 40s died of a heart attack after protesters pelted the town's main police station with stones and police responded by shooting into the air. The doctor said many of the injured had buckshot wounds.
The police spokesman said the protesters were moving through the town and appeared to be heading for the local headquarters of President Sali Berisha's right wing Democratic Party. Roadblocks had been set up on the main road linking Vlore to Tirana to block police reinforcements. He said 20 people had been injured, mostly by flying stones. A city hospital said 12 people were being treated for injuries.
Angry depositors launched the protests last week after the collapse of a local investment scheme with about $500 million in debts. Police initially tried to halt the protesters but eventually allowed them to move freely through the town. Demonstrations demanding the government's resignation have been held in a number of towns in the past week but riot police have prevented the holding of rallies in the capital Tirana.