Mother found cradling her eight-year-old daughter's body in rubble after Albanian earthquake begs rescuers to let her die with her child before suffering a fatal haemorrhage in hospital

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An Albanian mother pleaded with rescuers to let her die when she was found with her daughter's dead body in the rubble of the country's worst earthquake in decades, before she herself suffered a fatal haemorrhage on the way to hospital.  

Diena Mecaj Karanxhaj, 30, was found still alive with the body of her eight-year-old daughter Esiel after a six-storey building collapsed in the city of Durres. 

Reports in Albania say she pleaded with rescuers to let her die, saying: 'Don't take me out, I want to die in my daughter's arms'. 

Despite her protests, she was taken to hospital but is believed to have died of a haemorrhage hours after her daughter. 

The mother's husband had also died of a heart attack in 2015 she had devoted her life to raising their young daughter alone, reports say. Both will be buried in bridal gowns. 

The family tragedy came as hopes faded today of finding any more survivors of the 6.4-magnitude earthquake which has killed at least 41 people. 

Hundreds of aftershocks, some of them with magnitudes above 5.0, have brought further misery as Albanians begin to clean up the damage of destroyed buildings.   

Diena Mecaj Karanxhaj, 30, pleaded with rescuers to let her die after her daughter Esiel (pictured together) was killed in Albania's earthquake 

Despite her protests, the mother was taken to hospital but is believed to have died of a haemorrhage hours after her daughter (pictured together) 

Search and rescue teams search for at least one person stuck in the rubble of a building after an earthquake hit Durres

Emergency personnel search for survivors in a collapsed building in Durres today

People stand in front of a collapsed building in the town of Durres on Thursday where three more bodies were hauled from the rubble overnight

Emergency personnel carry a dead body on a stretcher as they work in a collapsed building in Durres on Thursday. The death toll from Tuesday morning's quake has risen to 40

Three more bodies were hauled out overnight in the port city of Durres, 20 miles west of the capital Tirana. 

In the neighbouring town of Thumane, where 22 have died, searching was called off after six more bodies were discovered under an apartment building. 

More than 650 people were injured in the 6.4-magnitude earthquake that struck before dawn on Tuesday.   

Italy, Greece, Romania and others rushed teams in and they are searching for survivors as 530 aftershocks continued rocking buildings and scaring people.

Emergency personnel search for survivors in a collapsed building in Durres today, it along with the town of Thumane were the most devastated

Berti Lala, 40, watched Italian rescue officers in the search for his twin son and daughter, barely two, his boy of six, his wife and paralysed older brother. 

They were all on the second floor of a collapsed four-storey house, built in reclaimed marshland in Durres, Albania's main port.

His other daughter, Amelia, 8, his mother Sehadete, 79, and his niece Griselda, 23, were trapped and killed by the collapsing walls. His nephew Rame, 17, was pulled out alive

Working incessantly and methodically, the Italians drilled off chunks of concrete to be removed by hand. 

Afterwards a team of Albanian soldiers shovelled debris away energetically. A mechanised digger was called to move off more.

They stopped to poke lights into a furrow. No luck. Chipping off chunks of wreckage resumed. For a time only the crackle of shards of brick was heard in the night. The Italian team leader directed the Albanian digger operator with hand gestures.

Shortly before 4am, a clothes hanger, blue and orange towels and a toolbox appeared.

A plastic shower base and a tiled wall were uncovered later, a sign the excavators had reached the third floor, above where the toddlers were trapped. The digger's forked bucket lifted a slab for the Italians to look below. 

A girl looks out of her tent in Durres. Prime Minister Edi Rama has declared a 30-day state of emergency and aid from European nations has poured in

Diggers and cranes are used to during rescue efforts to search through rubble today

Yesterday Prime Minister Edi Rama declared a national day of mourning and announced a 30-day state of emergency for Durres and Thumane, where the earthquake damage is at its worst.

Festivities planned for Albania's Independence Day celebration have been cancelled for today and tomorrow. 

Some 300 local soldiers and 1,900 police were sent to Durres and Thumane to assist with the rescue efforts.

Rescue crews with specialised equipment, sniffer dogs and emergency supplies have flooded into the country from neighbouring countries and other European nations to help in the search efforts and provide for those left homeless.

Many of those left without homes in Thumane spent a second night in tents, unwilling to head to hotels along the coast made available for their accommodation while the search operation continued.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama shakes hands with rescue workers in the port city of Durres last night

A worker walks on a collapsed building in Durres today

A rescue worker operates a massive drill as he goes through the rubble with his colleagues today

A total of about 2,100 people had spent Tuesday night in tents, and the government has vowed to provide new homes during 2020 for all those left homeless.

Authorities have warned residents not to return to any buildings that could have been damaged until engineers can check the structures for safety. 

Aid has also poured in from around Europe, with teams from Italy, Greece and Romania among those deployed to help after the strongest earthquake to hit the Durres region since 1926.

Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a conference of Muslim countries to help Albania recover, saying he was calling on 'the entire Islamic world to support Albania'. 

A boy at a makeshift camp in the town of Durres today after one of the worst earthquakes in decades

Meanwhile Pope Francis said he was praying for the victims and their families, saying Albania was the first country in Europe he wanted to visit as pontiff.  

In September a 5.6-magnitude quake in almost the same spot injured at least 70 people and damaged around 500 buildings.

A 6.4-magnitude earthquake would be around 16 times stronger than that, experts said.