Thousands Trying to Flee Albania Clash With Police

Thousands of people trying to flee Communist Albania clashed with police Saturday in the Adriatic port of Durres, witnesses and state television said. Four or five youths and five policemen were reported injured.

The clashes broke out after police at a ferryboat terminal turned back thousands of frustrated travelers--mostly teen-agers--who lacked visas or tickets, said Frok Cupi, editor of the opposition newspaper Democratic Revival.

Cupi, who witnessed the clash, told a news conference in Tirana, Albania, that five policemen and four or five of an estimated 20,000 youths from around the country were injured. He did not confirm earlier opposition reports that two people died.

Albanian state TV reported that one person was slightly injured in confrontations with police, who fired warning shots into the air to control the crowds.

Genc Polo, a spokesman for the fledgling Democratic Party, said Albanian television reported that 44 people had been arrested in the clashes.

The incident revealed the depth of frustration of many Albanians and the constant threat of flashes of violence in the tiny Balkan nation. Fierce riots occurred in Durres and three other cities in December.

Albania’s ruling Communists began reversing 46 years of Stalinist policy in December under rising pressure for more democracy among the 3.2 million people in Europe’s poorest nation.

Cupi said the port was jammed late Friday following rumors that two or three ferryboats would take passengers, even those without visas, across the Adriatic Sea to Italy.

The crowds, most of whom had slept outdoors overnight, were angered when only the regular fortnightly ferryboat to the northern Italian city of Trieste arrived and then left immediately, he said.

Skirmishes began with the police, who were armed with guns, riot sticks and shields and backed by dogs, Cupi said.

He said some police officers ignored orders and fired shots into the air and into the crowds after some youths began throwing rocks in frustration.

The enraged crowds rampaged through the streets, smashing windows, raiding bookstores and burning books by Albania’s late Communist founder Enver Hoxha.

Order was restored by early evening after about six hours of riots, and most of the youths returned home, said Ben Ruka, a journalist at Democratic Revival.