At least two people have died in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, after police fired on mourners who had turned out in the tens of thousands to get a glimpse of the coffin of Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga.

Scores were injured, as Kenyan police deployed tear gas to disperse thousands of mourners, emptying out the stadium, local media reported.

Authorities have not provided information as to what led to the crackdown by police.

Odinga died on Wednesday at 80 years old after he collapsed during a morning walk at a hospital in India's Kerala state. A former prime minister, Odinga was one of Kenya's foremost statesmen.

Thousands of mourners briefly stormed Nairobi's international airport, interrupting a ceremony for President William Ruto and other officials to receive Odinga's body with military honours.

Crowds also flooded nearby roads and tried to breach parliament, where the government had originally scheduled the public viewing.

A 60,000-capacity football stadium was full of mourners when security forces fired live rounds in the air in an attempt at crowd control.

Beloved opposition figure

Odinga spent more than three decades at the heart of Kenya's political transitions, championing multi-party democracy, challenging entrenched power and negotiating peace in moments of deep national crisis.

He was often described as Kenya's most influential opposition figure.

His defining political moment came in the disputed 2007 presidential election. Polls and exit surveys suggested Raila had the support of large segments of the electorate, but the Electoral Commission declared Mwai Kibaki the winner.

Following widespread protests erupted, and post-election violence left over 1,000 dead and hundreds of thousands displaced, an internationally mediated pact spearheaded by the late UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, led to a power-sharing deal.

Raila became prime minister in a grand coalition from 2008 to 2013.

He ran for president again in 2013, 2017 (in which he withdrew from a repeat election) and 2022, and in each case fell short.

Edited by: Roshni Majumdar