A witness told a local TV that there were at least 50 people working at the site at the time of the explosion.

Albania has destroyed some 46,000 tons of ammunition it has inherited from the past, and is continuing to scrap excess weaponry, hoping this might help the country get the ticket to NATO at the alliance's April 2-4 summit in Bucharest, Romania.

At least 1,500 soldiers and policemen have been posted to the disaster zone to guard against further explosions.

Rescuers continued the search for survivors.

Prime Minister Berisha visited the area and appealed for calm, reassuring the displaced residents that rescue efforts would not stop and relief would come soon.

An Albanian couple sit in front of their destroyed house in the village of Gerdec, Albania, Sunday, March 16, 2008. Troops and police cordoned off a smoldering army depot north of the Albanian capital as crews searched Sunday for workers missing following a chain of explosions Saturday that killed at least nine people and injured hundreds.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)

(Xinhua News Agency March 17, 2008)