Rescuers work through the night as Albanian quake toll hits 25

Emergency crews found three more bodies on Wednesday morning as they used drones, dogs and heavy machinery to search through the wreckage left by Albania's worst earthquake in decades, bringing the death toll to at least 25.

In the town of Thumane, close to the centre of Tuesday's quake, a woman stood in front of a collapsed building calling out for rescuers to find her niece.

Soon after, crews brought out two bodies. Police said they had found another victim earlier, before dawn.

Other residents slept out in the streets in tents, fearing aftershocks.

Adrian Muci said six of his relatives had died in two separate buildings and his own house was on the point of collapse.

"I have other cousins and relatives but I don't know where they are and if they are dead or not," he told Reuters. "I will never be able to live in my house any more."

In Durres, Albania’s second-largest city, on the Adriatic Sea, residents slept in tents and cars and at a soccer stadium as powerful aftershocks from the earthquake continued.

Turkish rescue teams

Turkish search and rescue teams began combing through debris on Tuesday, in cooperation with local authorities.

They are being led by officials from Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) and are using seismic and acoustic listening devices in a demolished building under the guidance of authorities.

Also on Wednesday, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a donors' conference of Muslim countries to help Albania surmount the destruction.

Erdogan made the call during an opening address at an annual meeting of the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation to discuss economic issues.

 "I call on the entire Islamic world to support Albania," Erdogan said.  

"We must all stand together with Albania concerning the treatment of the injured or sheltering those whose homes collapsed or were damaged."

Day of mourning

The UN said on Wednesday it was sending it two technical experts.

The 6.4 magnitude quake, centred 30 kilometres west of Tirana, was felt across the Balkans and in the southern Italian region of Puglia, across the Adriatic Sea from Albania.

At least 250 aftershocks –– two of them magnitude 5 –– then shook the Balkan country, testing strained nerves.

Albania is the poorest country in Europe, with per capita income a quarter of the European Union average, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Flags are flying at half-staff on public buildings around the country as Albania observes a national day of mourning.