At least 56 people have been killed and 108 injured in a fuel tanker explosion in western Mozambique, said a report, citing officials.

The circumstances of the blast on Thursday afternoon in the village of Caphirizanje in Tete province, near the border with Malawi, remain unclear, according to BBC.

Some reports say the driver of the tanker was trying to sell fuel to villagers, others that he was ambushed.

The blast itself may have been caused by a lightning strike or a fire nearby, reports say.

The government says it will provide coffins for identified victims who will be buried on Friday.

Those burned beyond recognition have been buried in a common grave, government sources told the BBC.

Officials initially said 73 people had died in the explosion.

Dozens of charred bodies lay around the blast site. Some of the badly burned victims had tried to run into the local river, Radio Mozambique said.

Another report said the vehicle had crashed on Wednesday afternoon and that villagers were siphoning off fuel when it exploded on Thursday.

The government, meanwhile, has declared three days of national mourning after an emergency cabinet meeting convened by President Filipe Nyusi on Friday morning.