15 burn to death in Kenyan church: Reports

A mob attacked and set fire to a church where hundreds of people had taken refuge from post-election violence, killing at least 15 people today, police and a witness said.

“There was a huge mob; they attacked the church,” said the witness in Eldoret, some 185 miles from the capital, Nairobi.

“We counted 15 to 20 bodies.”

A police officer who was not authorised to speak to the media confirmed that several people burned to death at a church in Eldoret.

Violence in the wake of Thursday's elections - the closest presidential contest in Kenya's history - has flared from the shanty towns of Nairobi to resort towns on the sweltering coast.

At least 217 people have died since Saturday, according to accounts from police, morgues and witnesses.

President Mwai Kibaki is under increasing international and domestic pressure over the disputed election victory that kept him in power. The opposition claims the vote was rigged and observers say it was suspicious at best.