A government official in Tanzania's north-western Kagera region has been giving details about the fire which swept through a school dormitory in the early hours of Monday, burning to death 10 children.

"This dormitory was housing 74 pupils and when it caught fire the pupils started fleeing, but due to the impact of the fire some couldn't make it on time," regional commissioner Marco Gaguti told Reuters news agency.

The cause of the fire at the Byamungu English Medium Primary School has not yet been established.

The fire started gutted one of the dormitories of Byamungu English Medium Primary School in Itera village.

Mbaraka Mahmoud, the village chairman, said villagers struggled to put out the fire, and rescuers dug through the rubble and burnt iron sheets to find the bodies.

"It is a sad day in our village. Parents, relatives and villagers are devastated," Mr Mahmoud was quoted by Reuters as saying.