113 killed in Kenya petrol blaze

Authorities in Kenya expected the death toll to rise and were searching the scorched woods for corpses.

Hundreds of impoverished people had flocked to the overturned tanker to siphon fuel when it exploded, probably sparked by a cigarette.

"Everybody was screaming and most of them were running with fire on their bodies, they were just running into the bush," said Charles Kamau, 22, who was driving through Molo on Saturday night when he saw the road blocked by hundreds of people with gerry cans, plastic bottles and buckets - anything to siphon some free fuel.

The explosion was one of this East African nation's deadliest accidents, and highlighted the desperation of people living in the poorest continent in the world.

"Poverty is pushing our people into doing desperate things just to get through one more day," Prime Minister Raila Odinga said at a hospital in Nakuru, near Molo.

Joseph Rotich, 35, lives in Molo and ran to the scene when he heard that a tanker was spilling fuel. He was haunted by the severely wounded victims, their clothes burned off, begging for help in the forest.

"They were lying there, saying, 'Give me aid, please call someone,"' he said. "I am so sad, so sad. When they heard this lorry had fuel, they came to get the fuel because it was free."

The government sent extra body bags and medical supplies to the area by helicopter, along with more doctors for the overwhelmed hospitals, where some victims were lying on floors. One child, who appeared to be around 10, was sitting dazed in a wheelchair with burns covering his face and body.

The Kenya Red Cross said the death toll was 113 but was expected to rise.