ELIZABETH KENNEDY MOLO

HOSPITALS in Kenya were overwhelmed with burns victims yesterday after one of the country's deadliest accidents in recent memory.

Victims lined the floors of hospitals, hooked up to drips and moaning in pain after an overturned petrol tanker exploded as hundreds of people tried to scoop up free fuel. More than 100 people were killed and 200 injured in the inferno, which was 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.

As he waited for the crowd to disperse, the fuel ignited with a blast felt miles away. Prime Minister Raila Odinga said a cigarette might have caused the explosion, but police said the cause remained under investigation.

Similar blasts are common in Nigeria, where people tap gas pipelines to pilfer fuel for cooking or resale on the black market. In 2006, a petrol blast killed 200 people in Nigeria. Such accidents highlight 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," Odinga said at a hospital in Nakuru, near Molo.

Kamau, who works at a nearby orphanage, was unhurt but a 10-year-old child in the car with him suffered burns on his back.

"I just grabbed the boy and ran," said Kamau, who also had a colleague in the car.

"I am here to report him missing," Kamau said at a Red Cross tent in Molo, where hundreds were gathering for any news of missing loved ones.

Burnt-out cars and charred clothing littered the road where the shell of the tanker stood, smouldering.

Authorities were combing the scorched forest by the road for corpses.

The government sent body bags and medical supplies to the area by helicopter, along with doctors to reinforce the hospitals. One child, who appeared to be about 10, was sitting dazed in a wheelchair with burns covering his face and body.

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

"Most of the families will have a hard time because these bodies are charred beyond recognition," said Patrick Nyongesa, the organisation's regional manager.

The scene was so gruesome, he said, that Red Cross workers were being offered counselling.

Joseph Rotich, 35, who lives in Molo and ran to the scene when he heard a tanker was spilling fuel, said he was haunted by the image of badly wounded people, 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 has been criticised for poor safety regulations. Nearly 30 people died on Wednesday when fire swept through a supermarket in Nairobi.

Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka said the country was enduring a time of tragedy.

"Everybody is in shock, with the fire coming as it does just days after the other blast," he said as he toured the scene in Molo.-AP