Albania building collapse kills three

GJIROKASTER, Albania (Reuters) - Albanian firemen pulled the bodies of three women from the rubble of an apartment building that had collapsed a day earlier, police said on Monday.

Rescue workers pulled the body of 65-year-old Parashqevi Zoto from a section of the six-storey building that collapsed on Sunday in Gjirokaster, 250 km (155 miles) south of the capital Tirana, police spokesman Gentian Mullaj said.

They also found the bodies of 36-year-old Valbona Dalani and her 12-year-old daughter Anxhela.

"The rest of the building will be torn down tomorrow because it is unsafe," Mullaj said.

Police said they were investigating whether the building collapsed due to a landslide caused by a nearby construction site.

Nine people have been arrested, among them municipal officials and an employee of the company who was caught while trying to escape to Greece, Mullaj said.

(Reporting by Benet Koleka, editing by Catherine Bosley)