At least 30 Kenyans burned to death in church

At least 30 people are reported to have been burnt to death in a church in western Kenya.

The church in the western town of Eldoret was attacked by a gang, who then set it on fire with hundreds of people hiding inside.

The dead were mostly children and elderly people who could not escape. Many were attacked and beaten before the blaze.

They had been trying to escape the post-election violence sweeping the east African country.

Over 200 people have died in ethnic clashes across Kenya since the disputed re-election on Sunday of President Mwai Kibaki.

Many of the deaths have been among the Kikuyu ethnic group from which Mr Kibaki comes.

Eldoret, which has witnessed some of the worst violence since Sunday's controversial poll, has a history of inter-ethnic tension. And in the past few days hundreds of Kikuyus have been taking shelter in churches and around the town's police station.

The EU's election observation team has said that the election fell short of international standards and has called for an independent audit into the results.

'They were marred by a lack of transparency in the processing and tallying of presidential results, which raises concerns about the accuracy of the final results,' the observation team said.

Incumbent President Kibaki was declared the winner on Sunday after a controversial three-day counting process, which his defeated challenger Raila Odinga alleged was rigged by the government.

'We believe it is vital that an impartial investigation into the accuracy of the presidential results is conducted and the results from all polling stations are published to enable an independent audit to be carried out,' chief EU observer Alexander Graf Lambsdorff said.