Thugs roved the streets for three days committing random killings with machetes, poison arrows, stones and fires in the formerly quiet western city, The New York Times said.

Bands of street gangs loyal to President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuya tribe fought Kalenjins and Luos clans loyal to opposition leader Raila Odinga in the poor areas of the city, The Times said.

Odinga ran on his Orange Democratic Party's ticket for president and accused Kibaki of stealing the Dec. 27 election.

Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan described the scene in western Kenya as "heart-wrenching" and urged the political rivals to resolve their differences.