TIRANA, March 17 (Reuters) - Albania's Defence Minister resigned on Monday, taking "moral responsibility" for a huge explosion at an ammunition dump that killed 16 people at the weekend.

"Although I have no personal responsibility, I handed over my resignation to the prime minister," Defence Minister Fatmir Mediu said. "My resignation is an act of political reflection. These were the most difficult 72 hours of my life."

More than 300 people were injured in the string of blasts at an army base near the capital Tirana, that was being used to stock obsolete munitions in readiness for destruction.

A number of people are still missing, presumed dead.

The explosions razed most of the buildings at the base and created huge craters -- up to 50 metres wide and 20 metres deep. Some 4,000 people were evacuated from the area and hundreds of homes in the surrounding area were damaged.

Albanian media have reported that untrained men and women from the area, even teenagers, worked at the plant for very low wages, and criticised setting up such a collection centre near inhabited areas. (Reporting by Benet Koleka; Wrting by Ellie Tzortzi; Editing by Matthew Jones)

AlertNet news is provided by