Nigeria blasts: 1,100 missing

More than 1,100 people are missing three days after a military armoury exploded in the Nigerian city of Lagos, aid workers say.

More than 700 people are known to have died when a series of blasts triggered a stampede.

The military is set to hold an inquiry into why such a large arms depot had been stationed in the heart of a residential area.

The country's defence minister Yakubu Danjuma pre-empted the inquiry by saying the depot would be moved after angry protests by residents.

In comments broadcast by Nigerian radio, television stations and newspapers on Wednesday, Danjuma said the Ikeja weapons dump had been built decades ago when few people lived in the area.

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Since then, it has been "swallowed up by the metropolis, and it has become an inappropriate location," he said. "We will relocate."

Army spokesman Colonel Felix Chukwumah, however, said he was "not aware" of any plans to relocate the facility in the northern Ikeja neighbourhood, The Associated Press reported.

Many of those who had died in Sunday's explosions were trampled to death as they attempted to cross a muddy canal blocking their escape route.

The Nigerian Red Cross said on Wednesday a total of 4,000 people were reported missing between Sunday and Tuesday. Of those, 2,825 have been found alive.

Newspapers said the final death toll could be more than 2,000.

Most of the missing are children aged between four and 11.

The Red Cross has set up two camps in the area for displaced people, and they are also supplying medical supplies, food, clothing and shelter.

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo called it a monumental tragedy and demanded answers.

"There is the normal thing that we do, or that the military will have to do, which is when a situation like this occurs, the military must carry out an inquiry," he said.

Residents living in the disaster area said a smaller blast at the very same depot last year went unreported and no safety changes were made. They said the tragedy could have been very easily avoided.