The Nigerian Red Cross says hundreds of people are still missing after an ammunition depot caught fire and exploded in Lagos on Sunday. A Red Cross spokesman, Patrick Bawa, says most of the missing are children between four and 11-years-old. The organization has set up two camps in the city to register displaced people and provide food, water and shelter for them.

Meanwhile, Nigerian government and army officials have launched a probe to determine the cause of Sunday's blast. President Olusegun Obasanjo, who visited ground zero on Monday, has promised a thorough investigation. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has sent condolences to Nigeria expressing shock and grief. A U.N. spokesman said on Tuesday Mr. Annan is willing to offer U.N. assistance. The official death toll has reached over 600. Local newspapers say that number could rise to over 2,000. Many of the victims were women and children who drowned in canals while trying to escape the exploding ammunition. Lagos residents demand to know why high powered explosives were stored in the densely populated Ikeja district of the city. The commander of the Ikeja brigade, Brigadier-General George Emdin, has apologized for the incident.

Some information for this report provided by AFP and Reuters.

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