A team of medical volunteers is to leave Galway for Albania next month to provide support to a hospital that has taken the victims of last Saturday's explosion in an ammunition bunker outside of Tirana.

More than 16 people died in the blast, while an unknown number are still missing. Three hundred houses were also destroyed.

Michael Gannon, Administrator, Irish Friends of Albania, said an Albanian surgeon working in Galway had made contact with the unit to see whether the group would send out an emergency team. However, they had indicated that they are managing OK.

Irish Friends of Albania is a Galway charity set up by Plastic Surgeon, Mr Jack McCann in 2005. It sends teams of volunteer surgeons and medical personnel to Albania. Since 2005, five teams with a total of over 80 volunteer medics have travelled to Albania and worked together with local doctors to perform over 200 operations on children and adults suffering from burns and deformities.

The Irish medics give invaluable training to their Albanian colleagues during these visits. The charity has supplied the Burns Unit with theatre equipment and supplies donated by Irish hospitals and medical companies. The charity is funded by public donations and by Irish Aid. The volunteer team will next visit Tirana on 12 April.

"Patients are currently in intensive care and when the Galway volunteer team arrives there it will be mainly surgeries that they will be carrying out," said Mr Gannon.

"Preparations are well underway for the April trip to Albania. All of the equipment is sourced locally from UHG and Bon Secours. The transport group we use has strong links with Oranmore, so they have offered to transport the goods for free. This is a great help as a trip costs on average €30,000 to €40,000," he added.

Since their trip in November, the Irish Friends of Albania team have a full list of operations but as this tragedy has occurred the list might be changed. "We work side by side with the local staff. They prioritise the cases and we assist them in any way we can," concluded Mr Gannon.

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