At least 12 dead in Kenya church fire: witnesses

By Wangui Kanina

NAIROBI (Reuters) - At least a dozen people died in a fire in a church in western Kenya on Tuesday as post-election violence swept the east African nation, witnesses said.

"I saw about 10 to 15 bodies crammed in a corner. They were charred, I could not look at the scene twice," one local reporter who visited the scene told Reuters from Eldoret town.

"There was a part of the church where I could not access but the death toll could be about 25."

The reporter said about 200 people were seeking refuge at the church, about 8 km (5 miles) from Eldoret, fleeing tribal clashes after President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election on Sunday.

He said the victims were mostly Kikuyus from Kibaki's ethnic group, who fled homes in the area in fear of their lives.

"Some youths came to the church. They fought with the boys who were guarding it, but they were overpowered and the youths set fire to the church," he said.

Another local journalist in Eldoret who spoke to witnesses said about 30 bodies lay in the Kenya Assemblies of God church.

Four bodies lay outside, he said.

The area in Rift Valley Province suffered tribal clashes in 1992 and 1997 when hundreds of people -- mainly Kikuyus -- were killed and thousands displaced in fighting over land.

(Writing by Daniel Wallis)