Five days after the incident that claimed the life of a fellow team member, Major Klodian Tanushi died despite the best efforts of medical teams to save his life. The announcement was first made by the Albanian Defense Ministry and confirmed by its equivalent in Latvia.
It is with great sorrow that yesterday Maj Klodjan Tanushi passed away. We extend our deepest condolences to his wife, children and extended family. After fighting for his life, Maj Tanushi died from injuries sustained during an EOD task, in the line of duty on May 6th. pic.twitter.com/Xn7WaiWThQ
— NATO eFP Battle Group Latvia (@eFPBGLatvia) May 11, 2019
“In this sad moment, I would like to express my deepest sympathy to the soldiers' relatives and friends, to their service members and to the people of Albania. I would like to thank the doctors and staff of the Intensive Care Clinic who did everything to fight for the soldier's life. Latvia is very grateful to our ally Albania for contributing to the NATO expanded presence in Latvia,” said Defense Minister Artis Pabriks.
Latvia's senior military officer Lieutenant General Leonīds Kalniņš also offered his condolences, as did State President Raimonds Vējonis and other officials.
Sad news, today we mourn again a death of soldier, part of our eFP mission. Our deepest condolences to the relatives and friends of Albanian major who did not recover from his grave injuries. We highly value Albanian contribution to the NATO mission in Latvia #alliedstrong
— Valsts prezidents (@Rigas_pils) May 11, 2019
As previously reported on Monday, May 6, at 9:13 at Ādaži military base near Rīga, an Albanian armed forces soldier lost her life in an explosion and two others were taken to the Riga Eastern Clinical University Hospital. After receiving emergency medical treatment, one of them left the hospital on May 6 after receiving superficial injuries. The second soldier, Major Tanushi, had serious injuries and the doctors fought for his life at the Intensive Care Clinic.
Military police have initiated and are conducting an investigation into the causes of the explosion and the circumstances of the incident.
Albania has contributed a team of approximately 20 ordnance engineers as part of NATO's multinational battle group in Latvia. Major Tanushi led that team.
The multinational battle group in Latvia is led by Canada and consists of approximately 1,400 soldiers from Albania, the Czech Republic, Italy, Canada, Montenegro, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain who perform their duties in rotation in Latvia by participating in training with Latvia's National Armed Forcest.
Major Tanushi had risen through the ranks after joining the military in 2003. He leaves behind a wife and three children.
