Children killed as church is torched.

A MOB torched a church sheltering hundreds of people fleeing post-election violence in Kenya yesterday, killing up to 50 people, including many children, as four days of rioting and ethnic clashes marked one of the darkest times in the country's history.

The church fire in Eldoret, some 185 miles from the capital, Nairobi, killed at least 50 people, said a Red Cross volunteer who counted the bodies and helped the wounded.

She said gangs were checking the tribal affiliations of aid workers.

President Mwai Kibaki, sworn in on Sunday after a vote opponents said was rigged, publicly called for calm. The violence has killed at least 270 people in what had been east Africa's most stable and prosperous democracy.

The opposition candidate, Raila Odinga, said he would refuse to meet the President to try to end the chaos.