Blast victims begin receiving relief aid

Relief aid has started coming in for victims of the munitions dump blasts that have caused the death of over 600 persons in Lagos, Nigeria, and rendered thousands homeless, humanitarian officials said on Wednesday. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) are working with the Lagos State government to help displaced people in two camps, the officials said. "We have two teams that have gone in to work closely with the Lagos government with the specific mandate to support in the areas of medical supplies, water and sanitation," UNICEF spokesman Batilloi Warritay told IRIN. Nigeria’s government announced on Wednesday that it had earmarked 200 million naira (US $1.76 million) for emergency assistance for victims through the National Emergency Relief Agency. Warritay said UNICEF was also working with humanitarian non-governmental organisations and the Red Cross to set up tracing programmes to help reunite missing children with their families. "Between Sunday and yesterday we recorded about 4,000 children who were reported missing by their relatives," Red Cross spokesman Patrick Bawa told journalists. "Out of this number we had found a little under 3,000 by the end of Tuesday," he said. Most of the missing children were residents of the Ikeja Military Cantonment and adjoining areas, where an old armoury stocking bombs and other military hardware went up in flames on Sunday, setting off massive explosions. The military base had over 15,000 residents, who are now homeless. Most have taken refuge in camps set up around the city, churches, and other military and police barracks, or with relatives. Defence Minister Theophilus Danjuma visited the base on Wednesday and promised that the armoury would be relocated.