Albania arrests nine people over deaths in collapsed buildings after the earthquake

In Albania, nine people have been arrested in connection with the deaths of 51 people in an earthquake last month.

Prosecutors issued 17 warrants in total, on charges including murder and abuse of office.

An investigation after the 6.4-magnitude quake that toppled dozens of buildings found that builders, engineers and owners had failed to comply with standards of safe construction.

Two of the people detained on murder charges were owners of two hotels that collapsed, killing four people in the port of Durres, Albania's second-largest city.

A third was the manager of a police vacation hotel where a high-ranking police officer was killed under the rubble.

During the three decades since toppling communism in 1990, many Albanians have moved nearer cities, squatting on land and building with little supervision by authorities.

Albania has yet to calculate the cost of rebuilding housing for the 14,000 people left homeless by the quake.