The accident reportedly occurred when the driver attempted to save the vehicle from head on collision with another lorry on a busy road between Kisumu and Busia, reported BBC.

People gathered at the accident spot with jerry cans to draw off the spilled fuel from the overturned tanker when it exploded.

At least 11 people, including children, were rushed to hospital in a critical state after sustaining severe burn injuries.

Firefighters took nearly two hours to reach the spot, near the town of Malanga in Siaya County - about 315km (195 miles) north-west of the capital, Nairobi, said the report.

"We could not get a fire engine from Siaya County since it is in Nairobi," local police chief Moreso Chacha was quoted as saying in the BBC report.

Fire crews rushed from a neighbouring county to battle the giant flames, he said.

A oil tanker met its fate when it was hit from the front by a lorry carrying milk, travelling from Busia, near the Ugandan border, to Kisumu, the police commander explained.